• Huboo’s unique ‘micro hub’ warehousing model and best-in-class tech supports online retailers of all sizes across Europe, the US and beyond
• Latest round from existing investors – including Ada Ventures and Maersk- brings total investment to £122m
• Huboo doubled in size in 2023, while halving costs to mitigate challenging market conditions

Huboo, the full-stack, software-driven eCommerce fulfilment provider, has raised £29 million from existing investors including Ada Ventures and Maersk plus additional support from lenders HSBC and Blackrock on the back of a seventh successive year of strong growth.

The new investment will be used to propel Huboo to profitability, market expansion and sustainable long-term growth, and marks a pivotal milestone in Huboo’s journey to becoming the leading eCommerce fulfilment provider in Europe, bringing the total investment to date to £122 million.

The Bristol-headquartered company recently announced 100% growth over the past 12 months, raking in more than £25 million worth in new business and adding 800 new clients to its rapidly expanding portfolio, which includes leading UK drinks brand AU Vodka and sports clubs West Ham FC and Bristol Sport. 

At the same time, the company has consolidated this strong performance by streamlining costs and reducing overheads by approximately half over the same period, as tough economic conditions continue to impact pan-European eCommerce.

Huboo’s European presence, which includes Netherlands, France, Spain and Germany, has also grown in 2023, with the Dutch operation passing £5M ARR for the first time earlier this year.

Martin Bysh, CEO and co-founder, said:

“Despite a challenging fundraising environment, the latest investment round is a testament to the confidence our investors have in our long-term vision and strategy. Our team has worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months to maintain our growth trajectory despite a poor macro outlook for eCommerce, introducing new services, like introducing automation for Enterprise clients, to enhance our customers’ experience and sustain our mission to revolutionise, simplify and transform eCommerce fulfilment.”

Founded by CEO Martin Bysh and CIO Paul Dodd in 2017, Huboo started from humble beginnings, with just two safe storage lockers in Bath and has since grown to 10 warehouses across Europe and a total headcount of over 750.

While many businesses find it hard to access efficient, cost-effective fulfilment to support their eCommerce aspirations, Huboo utilises software to drive smarter, more productive and human-centric warehouses. 

The company’s software provides a complete end-to-end fulfilment proposition – including transaction management, stock control, order tracking, billing and integration with popular sales channels and marketplaces, such as  TikTok, Amazon, eBay and Shopify, enabling the company to directly receive and process retailers’ orders in real-time. 

At the warehouse itself, Huboo houses its teams in self-contained ‘micro hubs’. These replicate the inputs, processes and outputs of a complete warehouse within a few hundred square feet. This approach allows teams to work quickly, intelligently, and on a set client portfolio, as well as meaning workers no longer have to walk miles every day. This process not only means that clients liaise with the same team members, but creates meaningful jobs that reduce annual warehouse staff turnover at Huboo to just 2.5% (compared to some warehouse statistics of 205%).

Matt Penneycard, partner at Ada Ventures, said:

“Never in my career in VC have I seen an investment opportunity with the scale prospects of Huboo. Ada Ventures invested in the first round, and every round since, because we saw the opportunity to mix state-of-the-art technology with operational know-how in a sector that had yet to be digitised. The upside is effectively unlimited here, and the team has more than justified all of our faith since that first investment.”