International e-commerce shipping carrier Passport has secured US$39m in funding for its second investment round.
The Series B funding was led by investment firm TCV, with participation from Flexport, FJ Labs and Pure Imagination, as well as industry angels Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands; Cassandra and Jeremy Thurswell, founders of Kitsch; Louis Kearns, former VP of shipping for Shopify; Jeremy Cai, CEO of Italic; and Sid Gupta, CEO of Quince. The round has also garnered participation from existing investors including M13, Resolute and RiverPark Ventures. Since its inception in 2017, Passport has raised a total of US$54m.
Alex Yancher, co-founder and CEO of Passport, said, “These funds allow us to do two big things. The first is to further develop our software-based infrastructure for cross-border e-commerce and secondly, to expand on our recent acquisition of Access Worldwide by building out our physical logistics capabilities. We’re building a modern international shipping solution that combines best-in-class technology with best-in-class logistics, and this investment helps us get there faster.”
Direct-to-consumer brands, marketplaces and e-commerce 3PLs rely on Passport for their international shipping needs. Many top e-commerce merchants including Kylie Beauty, Bombas, Native, Ritual and Seed.com depend on Passport to handle their cross-border shipping services that include door-to-door international parcel shipping with competitive rates and transit times to more than 150 countries; international regulatory, duty and tax compliance including a duty and tax calculator for Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce; international returns; high-touch customer support; and accurate door-to-door milestones on a branded tracking page.
“Before Passport, international shipping was a nightmare,” said Jonathan Bayme, CEO at Theory11, a producer of luxury designer playing cards. “Now, it’s a dream, making it easy and effortless for Theory11 to expand into new countries with lower cost, faster delivery times and rapid support. Our customers are happy, and their packages arrive more quickly for less cost.”
According to the round’s lead investor, Passport is well-positioned to capitalize on a rapidly emerging global marketplace. “Prior to the pandemic, cross-border sales were approximately US$780bn,” said Gautam Gupta, a general partner at TCV. “That number is expected to grow to nearly US$5tn by 2026 thanks to innovations from logistics leaders including Passport.”
