BoxLock, an Atlanta-based startup that provides smart padlock devices for home deliveries to thwart porch pirates, has raised a $4.5 million round led by transportation, logistics and tech industry veterans.
Dan McHugh, former CEO of Livingston, Southern Air and DHL Asia Pacific, Michael Monahan, former CFO/COO of Pitney Bowes, and Robert Williams, a former Amazon and Microsoft executive have joined the round and secured seats on the company board. Other investors include current and former C-level execs from DHL, TNT, uShip, Aramex, InXpress and Maersk. BoxLock has raised a little over $1 million in funding prior to this raise.
"We are fortunate to have such an accomplished group of industry veterans as active investors and advisors in our business," Brad Ruffkess, CEO and founder of BoxLock, said in a statement. "While their financial support is critical, they understand the challenges and opportunities of ensuring secure first and last mile delivery better than anyone. Their advice and counsel will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth."
In 2018, BoxLock appeared on the hit TV show “Shark Tank” on ABC, but did not secure an investment. According to BoxLock, more than 1.7 million packages are lost or stolen each day. A projection for 2020 estimates an $89 billion global loss to carriers for parcels that are not delivered on the first attempt.
Ruffkess previously told Atlanta Inno he always considered himself an entrepreneur and started programing at an early age. In 2016 when he was working with the Coca-Cola Company and his wife was working for AT&T, the couple moved into a new home in Virginia Highlands. Because they both had corporate jobs and couldn’t leave work early enough to receive packages, they installed cameras to monitor constant deliveries made to their new home.
“The next day, I watched the UPS driver walk up, drop off two packages and then 15 minutes later got a notification and watched someone walk up and steal the two packages on our front porch,” he said.
After being a victim of “porch pirates,” Ruffkess said he started to realize how common packages are stolen in the age of online shopping, Amazon and home delivery. Because the market didn’t provide a solution that actually protects the deliveries, Ruffkess came up with BoxLock, which are smart padlocks designed for storage containers on porches and compatible with all major carriers.
A homeowner simply purchases a BoxLock and selects a compatible storage container from one of the startup’s “Works with BoxLock” partners or one of their choosing, which can be weighted down or even bolted to a porch. After setting up the storage container on their porch, the customer downloads the BoxLock app from the iOS or Android stores, makes an account and requests the major package delivery carriers to secure their packages with their BoxLock.
“When the delivery driver walks up, they scan the tracking number on the package with the barcode scanner in lock, the lock connects to the internet, it confirms if that package is really for you and is it currently out for delivery,” Ruffkess said. “If the answer to both those questions is yes, the lock pops open and gives them access. They open it up, put the package inside, lock it up and you get a notification on your phone that the package has been secured.”
