Paccurate helps companies ship in smaller boxes, saving money while protecting the environment

James Malley, co-founder and CEO of Paccurate, likes to joke that once you get into supply chain technology, you can’t get out of the category.

Ten years ago, Malley and Patrick Powers were working together as consultants when they were asked the same question over and over again. Their customers asked for help reducing white space in their packaging boxes to avoid newly introduced fees from shippers like FedEx and UPS. Unable to find good software that solved this problem, Malley and Powers began searching for a solution to the problem themselves.

“The butterfly effect of this problem area intrigued us,” Malley told TechCrunch. “The more optimizations you make to the packaging, the greater the downstream. Using a 10% smaller box means, on average, 10% fewer pallets and 10% fewer truck trips. It is also one of the few areas in the supply chain where sustainability and cost savings are exactly the same thing.”

After a few years of research and development, they officially launched Paccurate in 2018. The software helps package shippers determine the most cost-effective and sustainable way to ship the items they need, taking into account factors such as size, weight and packaging requirements – a process called boxing. Brands can also use Paccurate’s API to build systems themselves.

Cartonization is often integrated with other supply chain software, Malley said, but many companies don’t trust it. He said some services simply aren’t accurate, while others focus on helping companies fit as much product as possible into as few boxes as possible, which isn’t always the most sustainable or cost-effective option, Malley said.

When Malley and Powers started the company, they thought it was “building better mousetrap technology,” not necessarily a risk-scalable venture. Malley said the company was content to simply bootstrap Paccurate and license the technology to other software companies until the pandemic changed the company’s plans.

But Paccurate was flooded with new and larger customers during the coronavirus e-commerce boom, so the startup began raising venture capital and raised a seed round in 2022 to keep up with demand. Growth has only accelerated since then. Last year the company handled about a million shipments a month, now it’s about a million shipments a day, and Paccurate works with brands like Daily Harvest and Our Place.

Paccurate recently raised an $8.1 million Series A round led by Indianapolis-based VC High Alpha, with participation from Tech Square Ventures, Grand Ventures and Springtime Ventures, among others.

This type of logistics is still largely dominated by established supply chain software providers such as Numina Group and Packsize. While Paccurate is not the only start-up in this space – Belgian company Optioryx is another – it is a significantly less saturated market than many other areas of the supply chain, such as last-mile freight.

Malley said they expect the growth to continue for several reasons. On the one hand, Malley said this is one of the few areas where companies can actually reduce storage and shipping costs. He added that for years companies appeared to be focused on bringing automation and robotics to the warehouse to reduce costs, and that many have now turned to this area, he said.

Second, regulations will soon force companies to think more about their packaging. The European Union recently passed regulations requiring shipping boxes to be at least 50% full. In the US, New Jersey introduced a bill at the beginning of the year that also requires boxes to be at least half full; The bill passed the state Senate.

“Well-packaged boxes are generally not as full as you think. 50% empty could indicate a well-packed box, and the penalties for improper packaging are staggering,” Malley said. “It’s a canary in the coal mine. I’ll be watching closely to see which state comes next.”