Shyp, a startup that wants to kill the post office, just raised $50 million
On Tuesday, Shyp announced that it had raised a $50 million Series B round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with participation from previous investors including Homebrew and Sherpa Ventures, and angel investors like Kevin Rose and Rent The Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman, bringing the startup's total funding to date to $62.2 million.
In addition, the company says, Kleiner Perkins' John Doerr will join Shyp's board of directors.
The company also announced the launch of a beta program in Los Angeles, in addition to the three cities where it currently operates: New York, Miami, and San Francisco. The new funding will allow Shyp to continue to expand throughout the US, to grow its team, and to develop new features. (In March, Shyp rolled out a feature for returns.)
Since its last round of funding in July 2014, the company says it's seeing 20 percent month-over-month customer growth, has "tens of thousands" of customers, and its number of shipments has increased by nearly 500%.
"This is a momentous day for Shyp. We couldn't have hoped for a better partner to counsel us as we creatively solve extremely complex problems than John Doerr and the team at Kleiner Perkins," Shyp's CEO Kevin Gibbon said in a statement.
In addition to its ease of use, Shyp provides transparency about where your package is along the way, and lets you know when it reaches its intended recipient. Shyp's convenience costs more than a trip to the post office would: you'll be paying $5 per package, plus the cost of shipping. And unlike Postmates, the on-demand courier service, Shyp can send packages globally, like UPS or FedEx.