uShip, the Austin-based transport marketplace, has acquired the UK’s boxby, which offers a similar but also complementary service by connecting couriers and transporters with customers in need of delivery.
The deal, of which terms are undisclosed, will “support the global growth” of uShip, which already offers localized versions of its reverse auction site for couriers and shippers in the US, Australia, Canada, UK, Germany and other parts of the EU, with further international roll outs planned this year. The boxby site and brand will remain with the “incorporation of key uShip processes and functionality”, while boxby co-founder Sandra Patterson will stay on in a consulting capacity only.
Boxby, founded in 2007 by Patterson and her husband Alistair, claims 2,500 couriers registered on the site and, like uShip, matches customers in need of delivery with surplus transporter space. This results in “fewer empty lorries on the road and more affordable delivery costs with customers saving an average of 40-50 percent”, says the company.
Along with the acquisition of Ayrshire, Scotland-based boxby, uShip has announced that Amsterdam, Netherlands will be the location for the company’s new European headquarters. Shawn Bose is also to become VP & GM, Global Business. Bose has been with uShip since 2005, most recently as VP of Product.
uShip, a privately-held company with investment from Benchmark Capital and DAG Ventures, says that it recently surpassed $150m in transactions on its site since it began operating in 2004. During this time it’s seen one million listings and 170,000 service providers register with the site.
