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
Expertise
Insights
-
Technology
AI-Powered Supply Chain Startup Silo Raises $32M to Transform Food and Agricultural Industries
Ashton Braun, inspired by the inefficiencies he observed as a commodities trader in Singapore, founded Silo in 2018 to address communication challenges and payment risks in the food and agricultural… -
Technology
Major Tech Firms Agree To AI Safeguards Set by the Biden Administration
Artificial intelligence provides vast opportunities for societal progress. At the same time, however, AI instills apprehension in many due its novelty and unprecedented capabilities. For this reason… -
Technology
Emerging AI Designed to Combat Canadian Wildfire
As of July 16, 2023 nearly 880 active fires have burned across Canada, scorching 10 million hectares of land and wildlife, marking one of Canada’s worse wildfire seasons. As a result, there has been a… -
Technology
The Launch of Claude 2, a ChatGPT Rival
Anthropic, an artificial intelligence start-up founded by former OpenAI employees and backed by Google, launched a new version of its AI chat bot: Claude 2. Its predecessor, Claude 1.3, was only… -
Technology
Europe’s First Rules on Artificial Intelligence
The European Union (EU) has begun to claim its place at the frontier of law making and artificial intelligence (AI). Its Parliament recently passed a draft of the AI Act, which would be the “world’s… -
Technology
Thomson Reuters Acquires Casetext: Advancing Legal Technology with AI
In a significant development for the legal industry, Thomson Reuters, a renowned global provider of legal solutions, has acquired Casetext, an AI-powered legal research platform based in California…