West Shore-born tech company ReturnLogic has raised $8.5 million from investors as it looks to exploit opportunities to streamline product returns in the growing world of ecommerce.
- The new capital will allow the company to hire more people and develop more products, according to a press release.
- ReturnLogic makes software and other tools that help online retailers manage returns, a tricky process for companies without physical stores.
- “Our vision is to be the operating system for returns,” ReturnLogic founder and CEO Peter Sobotta said in a statement.
- A Navy veteran with a background in logistics, Sobotta founded ReturnLogic in 2015 in Cumberland County.
- The company still lists a headquarters in Camp Hill on its Linkedin page and it’s a client of the J.D. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship at York College.
- But with its staff fully remote, and about a third working in Philadelphia, the company now considers Philly its home base, according to Sobotta
Who’s investing: The Series A round was led by venture capital firm Mercury, which has offices in Houston, Austin, Texas, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- Other participants include state-backed venture fund Ben Franklin Technology Partners, York-based White Rose Ventures and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Fund, whose partners include former AOL exec Steve Case.
- White Rose Ventures previously disclosed an investment in ReturnLogic of $750,000, which was part of the Series A round, according to White Rose managing partner Martin Fedorko.
- “Peter is a hyper-focused leader who has put a great team together to solve one of the largest challenges in ecommerce,” Fedorko said. “Their ambitions in the space are extraordinary. We are privileged to be able to participate and support this Central PA-founded company.”
- Ben Franklin invested $317,000 in the Series A, according to fund operations director Sherry Ann Davidson. Overall, the fund has invested $764,710 in ReturnLogic.
- The company raised $2 million in seed funding in 2020.
What’s next: Hiring and product development.
- ReturnLogic employs 35 people but hopes to reach 50 by the end of the year, Sobotta told TechCrunch.
- The company also hopes to expand its ability to serve what it describes as “ecommerce ecosystems.”
- ReturnLogic currently is used by brands on one of those ecosystems, Shopify.
- Other clients include Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.
Is there competition: Yes.
- The returns-management field includes companies called FloorFound, Loop Returns, Loveseat, Saara and Seel.
- One, called ReverseLogix, raised $20 million from investors in a Series A round in February 2021.
How big is the market: Online sales in the U.S. totaled $1.05 trillion in 2021, according to ReturnLogic.
- Of that total, roughly $218 million was returned to sender.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more information about the company’s headquarters.
