Cashew Systems Inc., which does business as Pallet, yesterday announced that it has raised $18 million in Series A funding. This latest round brings the warehouse management provider’s total funding since it was launched in 2023 to $21 million.
Logistics is a cornerstone of the global economy that is often overlooked until something breaks, noted San Francisco-based Pallet. It cited examples such as a delivery sent to the wrong address, a couch back-ordered for months, or a parts shortage causing car prices to climb.
However, the logistics industry remains inefficient and error-prone, asserted the company. It relies on “antiquated and disjointed software solutions that are exacerbated by labor-intensive and manual workflows,” according to Pallet.
“We started Pallet to bring logistics software into the 21st century,” stated Sushanth Raman, co-founder and CEO Pallet. “I met my co-founder Andrew at Retool, where we were focused on finding inefficiencies in the ways that developers worked and fixing them. We knew we could bring the same thinking to this neglected industry.”
Pallet combines management systems
Pallet offers a unified, AI-powered transportation management, warehouse management, and accounting and billing system. The company said its platform can bring dispatchers, warehouse managers, accountants, and customer-service representatives together.
Pallet’s core functionalities include:
- Unifying systems and operations: Replace disjointed point solutions and run all transportation segments through one system.
- Empowering teams with AI: Automate repetitive and tedious workflows, and minimize errors around order entry, dispatching, invoicing, and billing.
- Delivering premium service to customers: Track statuses live, provide real-time notifications.
Customer provide positive feedback
Since launching in April 2023, Pallet said it has earned the trust of leading trucking companies across the U.S., such as BLK Out Logistics and Victory Final Mile.
The software is critical to its customers’ business, said Pallet, with the average user spending more than six hours per day on it.
Customers have also seen significant productivity improvements and cost savings, Pallet said. For example, teams have seen a nearly 70% reduction in manual-intensive workflows such as order entry.
But the work has only just begun, it acknowledged.
“We know that no two logistics businesses are the same, so their software shouldn’t be, either,” Raman said.
Pallet makes plans for latest funding
Bain Capital Ventures led Pallet’s Series A round, which also included participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and Activant Capital. Angel investors also participated, including Zach Frankel, Toast founders Aman Narang and Steve Fredette, Dutchie CEO Tim Barash, Home Depot board member Manuel Kadre, and Cedar Capital partner John Curtius.
“Moving materials and products from source to customer is essential to nearly every business, which is why logistics software is more than a $20 billion market,” said Kevin Zhang, partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “Sushanth, Andrew and the relentless team at Pallet won’t stop until they’ve helped every transportation management organization to unify, optimize and automate their operations.”
Pallet said it will use the funds to grow its team, expand operations, and invest in new enterprise product capabilities. Over the next two years, the company plans to focus on expanding offerings to meet the needs of larger logistics agents, as well as building out its team by hiring engineering, product, and go-to-market staffers.