As we’ve covered in previous weeks, 2020 has been the year of ecommerce. Thanks to companies like Shopify and Privy, small businesses are more easily able to make the online transition that COVID-19 is forcing them to make.
The increase in online presence and decrease in physical storefronts presents a problem for businesses big and large hoping to maintain the scale of their operations without having to pay expensive rents. That’s where our Breakout Startup of the Week, Flowspace, comes into play ($PRIVATE:FLOWSPACE).
Founded in 2017 by Ben Eachus and Jason Harbert, Flowspace has made a simple realization that is revolutionizing the $36.6 billion dollar warehousing industry: that your clients shouldn’t adapt to you, but you should adapt to your clients. Put quite simply, Flowspace is an extremely vertical company that streamlines every stage of the warehousing process. There’s no need for clients to go anywhere else when Flowspace can do it all.
One of the fastest growing companies in its sector, Flowspace is just beginning to take off. Last year it raised $12 million in a Series A Funding round, and its employee count has been increasing healthily despite the pandemic - again a testament to the growing market that Flowspace has found itself in. In 2019, the company grew from 20 employees to 48. So far in 2020, they’ve grown from 48 to 70, with a steep increase in the later months of summer. For investors and workers looking to get in early on a company with strong potential for long-term growth, now is the time.
Flowspace’s service goes beyond just offering a shelf for businesses to store things on. It provides software that makes managing and moving inventory from warehouse to warehouse simple, and helps organize everything from simple storage space to deliveries to customers' home addresses.
There is an intense demand for a service that streamlines and combines all these different processes, especially as businesses of all sizes reduce their brick and mortar presence in favor of digital storefronts. Perhaps the most appealing thing about Flowspace for a potential client is that despite offering a variety of different services under its umbrella, the company promises that “you only pay for the space you use.”
If a scaling business were to independently contract someone for storage, delivery, and distribution, the costs would add up quickly. But with Flowspace, clients can get far more than two for the price of one.
