BufferBox, the Canadian start-up that was founded by three engineering grads (Jay Shah, Aditya Bali and Mike McCauley) from the University of Waterloo, was snatched up by Google in November 2012 for an estimated $25 million. The company has 24/7 parcel kiosks located in Toronto and San Francisco.
According to their website, “BufferBox service is winding down. Our warehouses will stop accepting packages on March 31, 2014 and April 21, 2014 will be the last day to pick up your packages from BufferBox locations.”
Here’s the complete message from their site:
We have an important service update to share today, and as one of our loyal users, we wanted you to be among the first to hear about it.
When we started BufferBox three years ago, we were excited about the opportunity to build something new, provide a great service to users like you, and learn how it could make online shopping better. The reaction we got was more than we ever could have hoped for, and the ride only got more exciting when we joined Google just over a year ago.
At Google, we’re constantly looking for new ways to help people buy their favorite products online faster and easier, and as always, it’s important to evaluate the areas where we focus our efforts. That’s why we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down the standalone BufferBox service, instead bringing the learnings, technology and expertise of the team to future Google Shopping products, like Google Shopping Express (currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area).
The last day our warehouses will be accepting packages is March 31, 2014 and the last day to pick up your packages from a BufferBox location will be April 21, 2014. For more details, please visit our official announcement or our FAQ page. To download a copy of your parcel history data, simply sign into your BufferBox account and follow the instructions on the dashboard page.
Starting from the very early days of BufferBox just a few short years ago, we have been extremely humbled by the support and loyalty of our users, partners, and fans. We would never have been able to accomplish what we have without your encouragement and support. We know that this news may cause some inconvenience for many of you and we sincerely apologize but appreciate your understanding and patience.
We’re more committed than ever to building products that help people around the world shop easier, and are excited to continue working with the rest of the Google team to bring more of them to you soon.
With thanks,
– The BufferBox Team