The Australian Business Growth Fund (ABGF) has made its fifth investment for 2022 investing $12 million for a 30% interest in last-mile delivery logistics company HUBBED.
To date, consumers have not been able to choose where they would pick up parcel deliveries. They had parcels delivered to their home, local post office or a delivery company depot. HUBBED has created a technology-enabled pick-up and drop-off system which enables receipt and delivery of parcels from 2,150 convenient locations across Australia. These include 7-Eleven stores, BP service stations, National Storage depots and independent retailers. Customers pick up their deliveries at a flat rate of $2 a package.
Recognising the growth of e-commerce deliveries, chief executive David McLean founded Sydney-based HUBBED to provide purchasers with choice in how they received their deliveries.
“HUBBED was designed to address a gap in the e-commerce market,” he said. “Our solution for last mile delivery and returns logistics helps alleviate some of those pain points in online purchasing for consumers, carriers and retailers.”
McLean said ABGF’s investment will provide an opportunity for HUBBED to scale up collection points to 3,000 nationally.
The company’s proprietary technology is customer agnostic so can seamlessly integrate into third party systems of carriers, aggregators, marketplaces and e-commerce retailers. Carriers already using HUBBED include CouriersPlease, DHL, FedEx, Sendle, Toll Group, TNT Express and UPS.
ABGF co-head of investment Ghazaleh Lyari said: “We look for organisations that can demonstrate a proven business model and just need that boost to accelerate organisational success. HUBBED is a great Australian business that identified a gap in the e-commerce market. We are excited to be on this journey with them.”
ABGF provides patient minority capital to Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs) which have reached expansion stage but may not meet the fast growth expectations of private growth investment firms.
To qualify for ABGF funding, businesses must have proven their business model and be generating more than $2 million in annual revenue.
The independently managed fund was set up by the federal government with additional investment from Australia’s big four retail banks plus Macquarie and HSBC.
The fund has initial capital commitments of $540 million and is expected by the federal government to grow to around $1 billion over time.
As well as providing growth capital, the ABGF facilitates mentorship, access to talent pools and offers external expertise and advice.