UPS has invested $2 million in Shutl, the internet services that connects retailers to local same-day courier companies to enable deliveries to be made within 90 minutes of ordering.
Shutl will use the new investment from the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund to expand its engineering team, accelerate the acquisition of new retail partners, and prepare to launch its service in the US early 2013.
Shutl was founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Tom Allason. Existing investors include Hummingbird Ventures and GeoPost.
Allason said: “Since launching in 2010, we’ve focused on providing a service that blows away shoppers’ expectations.
“We’ve spent this last year taking Shutl national across UK, now we are ready for the US, a market that we estimate will be worth around $26bn by 2016.”
Shutl counts Argos, Aurora Fashions, Karen Millen, Maplin and Style-Passport among its customers.
The UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund was founded in 1997 as the private equity strategic investment arm of UPS.
