Moving Towards Sustainable E-Commerce: The Rounds Secures $38M Series A Funding

Eco-conscious consumers in the United States who are concerned about the environmental impact of rapid delivery services such as Amazon Prime and Instacart may soon have access to a more sustainable form of e-commerce. The Rounds, a startup offering zero-waste refill and delivery services for household goods, is looking to expand to new cities after raising $38 million USD in a Series A round led by Redpoint Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
The Rounds’ mission is to make everyday sustainable choices effortless. Rather than following a conventional one-way shipping model where items are delivered from the retailer to the consumer who then disposes of the product and its packaging, The Rounds creates a “closed-loop” circle. Household goods ranging from personal care items to pantry staples are delivered to consumers in reusable packaging, and empty containers from previous orders are picked up at the same time. Unlike most subscription-based delivery services, The Rounds members schedule deliveries based on their individual needs and can easily modify the timing or content of their orders. Members pay $10 USD a month, but there is no annual fee, and tipping is not required.
The Rounds’ services are currently offered in four cities across the United States: Philadelphia, D.C., Miami, and Atlanta. With 100 full-time staff and over 10,000 active members, the company is looking to grow both its team and its market penetration. In the long-term, The Rounds hopes to establish a footprint in more suburban markets and major cities in the United States.
While The Rounds offers a more eco-friendly delivery option, the co-founders recognize it is not the most affordable one. As inflation continues to rear its head, The Rounds’ success may depend on how much of a premium, consumers are willing to pay for sustainability.
Author: Jennifer Linde, 2022/2023 Articling Student-at-Law
Image by https://unsplash.com/@kekse_und_ich
Authors
Expertise
Insights
-
Technology
Bluesky Rolls Out New Community Guidelines
Bluesky, a social network competitor of X, Threads and other open networks including Mastodon, is revisiting its community guidelines and other user policies to provide more clarity around user safety… -
Technology
Perplexity AI’s All-Cash Bid for Google Chrome
AI startup Perplexity AI has made an unsolicited US $34.5 billion bid to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. With over three billion users, Chrome is currently the most popular browser in the world… -
Technology
Concordia University Students Launch ‘Starsailor’ Rocket from Northern Quebec
Students from Concordia University’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science recently launched “Starsailor,” a rocket that a team of over 700 members developed over the past seven years… -
Technology
BC’s Mushroom-Plucking Robots Harvest Big in Latest Round of Fundraising
4AG Robotics, a British Columbia-based start-up that uses robots to harvest commercially grown mushrooms, has received a C$40 million venture capital investment to further develop its fungi-focused… -
Technology
Canada’s New Virtual Hub for Wildfire Innovation and Knowledge Exchange
With the increasing threat wildfires pose to the safety, health and economic wellbeing of Canadians and ecosystems across the country, the federal government has established the Wildfire Resilience… -
Technology
The Modernization of Estate Planning with "Trusty"
With many Canadians lacking a will, Trusty, a Toronto-based startup, aims to revolutionize estate planning by leveraging artificial intelligence (“AI”) and technology. Founder Randy Frisch created the…