Supply chain scale-up in the spotlight: SendCloud

SendCloud was founded in the Dutch city of Eindhoven in 2012. At the time, the three co-founders, Rob van den Heuvel (CEO, pictured), Bas Smeulders (COO) and Sabi Tolou (CCO), were running an online store selling phone accessories. When they couldn’t find a time-saving solution for their most frustrating problem – shipping – they decided to build the software themselves, and SendCloud was born.

The company’s mission is ‘making shipping as easy as possible’. The e-commerce boom is resulting in a growing number of online purchases but also a rising number of returns and increasingly demanding customers in terms of how and when they want to receive their parcels. SendCloud strives to make life easier for small to mid-size online retailers and help them compete in a market dominated by big players.

SendCloud does this by providing all-in-one shipping software that reduces costs and provides a seamless international delivery process across borders. The tool automates all aspects of shipping based on a choice of over 25 plug-and-play integrations or the API. E-tailers can increase conversion by offering multiple shipping methods and carriers at the checkout. The solution also includes a customizable returns portal where shoppers can easily create and print out labels for their returns.

SendCloud in Deloitte Fast 50

The company currently employs over 100 people, serves over 15,000 customers and has over 50 integrated carriers, including the likes of DHL, DPD, UPS and GLS. SendCloud has offices in Germany and France in addition to its Dutch office, and also launched in Spain earlier this year. The company has been ranked in the top 20 of the Deloitte Fast 50 for the past three years (including the number-one spot in 2017) and was listed 51^st in the FT 1000: Europe’s fastest-growing companies in 2019.