Palatine has made its first investment from its recently-closed £254 million Buyout Fund V, taking a majority stake in fulfilmentcrowd, a fast-growing, tech-driven, Lancashire-based global fulfilment provider.
Palatine’s investment will support fulfilmentcrowd as it continues to scale organically in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, as well as delivering on M&A opportunities.
Palatine “sees an excellent opportunity to help the business continue to scale at pace,” using its experience in value creation and sustainability. The transaction sees a partial exit for BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor, who invested in the business in 2021. BGF will continue to support the business on its growth journey as it reinvests alongside Palatine.
The disruptive technology company, based in Chorley, has increased revenue by 20% in the last year as more than nine million items were shipped through its platform worldwide.
Fulfilmentcrowd’s proprietary cloud-based platform enables growing omni-channel retailers to outsource their entire end-to-end logistics and fulfilment process, including receipt of goods, picking, packing, dispatching and delivery. Its technology seamlessly integrates with its customers’ own sales channels and provides a live view of stock across multiple sites and provides data for management information and supply chain management.
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Fulfilmentcrowd has recently expanded its international footprint launching a new Asia-Pacific fulfilment hub in Sydney, Australia and a new hub in Dublin, Ireland. Further bases in the US will open this year too. The company has over 100 employees, more than 30% of whom have been there for 10 years.
Tom Wildig, senior investment director at Palatine, said: “We are very excited to be backing this entrepreneurial management team at fulfilmentcrowd. They have done an excellent job in building a market-leading, asset-light tech company.
“Leveraging our experience in tech services alongside our sector-leading approach to ESG, we look forward to supporting CEO Lee Thompson and the rest of the team to accelerate growth and achieve their goal of becoming the world’s number one fulfilment platform for omnichannel brands.”
Lee Thompson, CEO of fulfilmentcrowd said: “The fulfilmentcrowd platform enables ambitious omnichannel brands to simplify and scale their global logistics operations. We flex our technology, expertise and service delivery model to deliver solutions that create competitive advantage. In Palatine, we have found a genuine growth partner with the strategic expertise and positive approach to value creation that will help develop our entrepreneurial culture and drive sustainable growth over the coming years.”
BGF Partner, Spencer Woods, added: “We’re proud to have supported fulfilmentcrowd through a sustained period of growth since our initial investment in 2021. We look forward to having an ongoing role alongside Palatine as the company continues to find new opportunities for international expansion.
“They have proven to be a highly scalable business, powered by strong management and award-winning technology. We’re excited to see the company embark on its next phase of growth as they build a truly global network for omnichannel brands, accelerated by sustained demand for their exceptional customer-focused fulfilment and logistics platform.”
Palatine’s Tom Wildig and James Painter will be joining the board following the investment. A new debt facility from Thincats has also been agreed alongside the investment.
