$12.2m fundraise for Manchester ‘sustainable packaging’ platform
Manchester-based ‘sustainable packaging’ sourcing marketplace, Sourceful, has raised $12.2m in a seed funding.
The round was led by Index Ventures with participation from Eka Ventures, Venrex and an investor and Dylan Field (Figma founder).
Danny Rimer, partner of Index Ventures, will join the board.
Founded only a year ago by the former CTO at The Hut Group, Wing Chan and Shiran Zheng, Sourceful is aiming for a formal launch next year but has already scooped some pilot customers including bespoke curtain maker, Stitched, online florist, Floom, and Manchester coffee shop chain Foundation.
Sourceful has worked with brands across the UK, EU and US to source eco-friendly packaging, merchandise and components.
It has shipped over 1m items and currently has over 40 carefully vetted suppliers in the UK and China.
“We built Sourceful because we wanted to strike at the root cause,” said Sourceful CEO and co-founder Wing Chan.
“It’s all very well to ask people to ‘shop responsibly’, but the reality is that consumers only have the choices that businesses offer, and it’s not fair to put the burden on individuals to constantly sacrifice cost and convenience.”
The platform uses data-driven optimisations to provide “intelligent inventory-management” and warehousing services.
This means companies can proactively replenish and restock products.
With a new capability set to launch in 2022, businesses will be able to find, customise and design packaging, understand the sustainability impact of their specific choices and make decisions based on real-time data.
“Today, businesses simply don’t have the tools to act: affordable solutions are scarce, accurate data is thin, and supply chains are complex,” said Danny Rimer of Index Ventures.
“Now, for the first time, Sourceful’s platform enables businesses to move from intention to action.
“Using Sourceful’s data driven platform, businesses can access the best suppliers and understand the implications of their supply chains in a way that wasn’t possible before.
“Sourceful is being led by founders with deep insight from one of the largest e-commerce infrastructure platforms in Europe, with a track record of hiring and managing high calibre teams.”
