Toronto-based Boxhub has raised a $2.7 million seed round led by the founder and CEO of Delivery Hero, Niklas Östberg.
Boxhub’s financing also saw participation from Conrad Whelan, founding engineer of Uber; David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies; and Innoport; as well as angel investors Esther Dyson and Charlie Songhurst, among others.
NASA, General Electric, Hobby lobby, and the New York City Housing Authority have purchased shipping containers through Boxhub.
Other notable Boxhub investors include Aakrit Vaish, founder & CEO of Haptik; Michael Pomerleau, general partner of Motion Ventures, and Samuel Fuentes, founder & CTO of OnTruck.
Copenhagen-founded and Toronto-headquartered, Boxhub was created in 2017 as an ecommerce platform for B2B and B2C shipping container transactions. The company automates all aspects of the value chain for suppliers, customers, container depots, and trucking operators.
Its platform makes it possible to buy shipping containers for any purpose without the hassle of calling shipping lines, depots and trucking companies.
Boxhub claims that it sources its shipping containers directly from the closest container port in order to provide low-cost and smooth transactions to its buyers and sellers. Organizations and brands such as NASA, General Electric, Hobby Lobby, and the New York City Housing Authority have purchased shipping containers through Boxhub.
Boxhub has become popular with customers embarking on DIY and upcycling projects, according to the company. Many of the shipping containers sold through its platform end up living second lives as tiny houses, vertical farms, and home offices.
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United States-based Integrated Equipment Sales reported that there are currently 17 million shipping containers across the globe. Of those 17 million, however, only six million are actually being used. Through its managed marketplace, Boxhub aims to build a more sustainable world—one container at a time.
Boxhub is not the only Canadian company operating in the shipping container space. One of them is Northern Container Sales, an Ontario-based company that offers shipping container sales and rentals across Canada. The firm currently operates in Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
With its fresh injection of capital, Boxhub intends to accelerate its U.S. expansion and fuel its product development efforts.
Feature image from Paul Teysen via Unsplash