TechTaka, a South Korean on-line procuring success startup that gives third-party logistics providers for e-commerce sellers, has raised $9.5 million (12.6 billion KRW) in a Collection B spherical of funding from a sole investor, Altos Ventures.
The outfit helps e-commerce sellers handle the availability chain, from warehousing, order packing and transport, in order that TechTaka customers can concentrate on product and advertising and marketing. The startup additionally gives a SaaS working system to optimize the web distributors’ provide chain and logistics operations.
Soo Younger Yang (CEO), who had stints at Amazon and Coupang as a software program engineer, and Kyung Wook Lee (CTO), who beforehand labored at Coupang, based TechTaka in Could 2020 and launched its success service referred to as Argo in March 2021.
Yang advised TechCrunch that he had firsthand expertise on the e-commerce giants of how briskly supply providers are important to prospects. His experience and pursuits in logistics and optimization led him to begin TechTaka to supply fast and dependable logistics providers.
TechTaka presents its customers next-day supply (orders by midnight for packages that arrive the subsequent day), which is a key to attracting prospects, in accordance with Yang. Since July final yr, the three-year-old startup has built-in with Naver’s SmartStore, which is main South Korea’s e-commerce market together with Coupang. (Coupang has its own fulfillment centers, and Naver bolsters its success service in collaboration with logistics and success firms like TechTaka.) The startup CFO Steve Kim advised TechCrunch its efficiency notably elevated by way of revenues and prospects after partnering with Naver. It presently has greater than 170 prospects in South Korea.
The outfit will proceed to increase its partnerships with marketplaces and gross sales channels, not simply in South Korea but in addition within the U.S. and Southeast Asia. TechTaka, which has a warehouse in Seattle, has began serving to Korean distributors promote their merchandise on Amazon, Kim stated, including that it plans to combine with world marketplaces like Amazon and Shopify.
“We tested our service in the U.S. by introducing Korean e-commerce sellers to Amazon, starting in May 2023,” Kim stated. “As soon as we complete the process for an official Amazon partner, we plan to expand this business in the U.S.”
The most recent capital, which brings its complete raised to $18 million (23.6 billion KRW), will allow TechTaka to advance its know-how, scale its service for on-line retailers and rent employees.
TechTaka has included synthetic intelligence into its system to research cargo patterns to allow customers to foretell shares, orders and gross sales. Argo’s AI know-how additionally recommends packaging and optimized routes for warehouses (warehouse administration system) and deliveries (transportation administration system). It detects operation errors by way of an AI-powered digicam. TechTaka claims that its inner analysis exhibits the corporate’s optimization algorithm saved time within the provide chain course of by 20%, Yang stated.
On prime of that, the startup has partnered with LG CNS, an IT answer arm of Korean electronics big LG, to carry LG’s collaborative robotic service, choosing up parcels for staff, to the warehouses. TechTaka, together with LG CNS, plans to launch a RaaS, or Robotic-as-a-Service, enterprise mannequin to optimize operation within the warehouse, Kim advised TechCrunch.
Earlier this month, the startup arrange a warehouse representing 17,000 sq. meters of cupboard space in South Korea. It has 76 staff as of immediately. Its earlier backers embrace Naver D2SF, Kakao Ventures and Lotte Ventures.
