FlixBus, Flink and Runtastic founders back Berlin startup with €3.4 million to put an end to inefficient e-commerce deliveries

According to a recent Accenture study, 90% of shoppers like to track their delivery status and want deliveries to be easily integrated into their busy lifestyles. A Berlin-based startup is addressing this need and will roll out an intuitive engagement solution to allow merchants, carriers, and consumers to communicate across the end-to-end post-purchase experience.

And for doing so, the German startup karla has brought home €3.4 million. The pre-seed funding round was co-led by 468 Capital and La Famiglia. Angel investors, including Jochen Engert (Flix Mobility), Oliver Merkel (Flink) and Florian Gschwandtner (Runtastic) also participated in the round. The fresh capital will enable the startup to help consumers get their parcels exactly when and where they want.

Founded by former BCG Partner Frederik Schröder and former Scorable co-founder Philippe Padrock in 2021, the platform is reimagining and simplifying the frustrating post-purchase experience.

Talking about how the startup is working towards elevating the shopping experiences, Philippe Padrock, co-founder of karla said: “Tedious post-purchase experiences, such as a lack of transparency and inaccurate delivery times significantly and negatively impact the customer experience. Two thirds of all customers are less likely to return to the same online shop following a negative delivery experience. Providing customers with a unique solution to fully control their deliveries - from delivery times to drop-off points and returns, will not only increase customer retention but also improve user satisfaction and significantly reduce the number of complaints.”

Frederik Schröder, co-founder of karla added: “Against the backdrop of the pandemic, online shopping is booming but deliveries remain inefficient driving costs for carriers, congesting urban streets and increasing emissions. We will build a platform that connects merchants, carriers, and consumers enabling a step change in delivery execution and the ability to meet evolving customer needs.”