A Baltimore startup that has created a platform to help businesses assess and manage smartphone and other connected device inventory across their supply chain network has raised $14.4 million in new funding.
Apkudo’s Series B growth round was led by Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Funds and also included participation from existing investors Harbert Growth Partners, Grotech Ventures, MissionOG and Lavrock Ventures, according to a release earlier this month. New York-based Closed Loop is an investment firm focused on the “circular economy,” a term that refers to an economic system designed to maximize the use extracted from resources and minimize waste.
The latest fundraising round comes less than two years after Apkudo raised $14 million in November 2020. Founded in 2011, the startup is now backed by $38 million and has about 100 employees, said Darwin Stephenson, Apkudo’s chief innovation officer.
With the new funding, Apkudo plans to focus on expanding its customer base and getting more companies to use its platform. That will include some new hires, Stephenson said, though he doesn’t have an exact number. The company is based in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood but also has a large presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where many of its customers are located.
“Apkudo is the best-kept secret in the industry,” he said.
Apkudo's automation platform gives businesses the data they need to make decisions about what to do with used connected devices in their own organization and across their supply chain network. Connected device refers to any device that connects to the internet, though the majority of Apkudo’s business comes from those in the smartphone industry, Stephenson said.
Apkudo’s platform can help businesses like mobile phone carriers, device manufacturers, third party logistics providers, wholesalers and traders answer questions like, what condition is the device in? Does it function? How many of these devices do I have? From there, the company can decide whether it’s best to repair, resell or recycle the device.
To equip companies with this information, Apkudo offers a platform that integrates with a company’s internal systems and those of its third-party partners to offer a bird’s eye view of its supply chain all in one place.
The startup also offers a robotics line that can assess the connected devices on both functionally and cosmetics. The company’s smartphone robotics line can process 300 units an hour, Stephenson said.
Apkudo has tripled the number of customers on its platform over the past two years, according to the release, and its customers include major names like FedEx, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Amazon.
The startup also added Dell to its customer line-up last year after winning a request for proposals to build a new trade-in program for the computer giant. Apkudo, which had never built a trade-in program before, designed a program from “the ground up” in just five months. One feature of the new program is that it integrates with Dell’s internal systems to see information about a device a customer wants to trade in rather than relying on the customer to provide those details, Stephenson said.
The partnership with Dell also marked an expansion into computers for Apkudo and Stephenson said the company wants to continue to take its technology to new customers and new markets. One idea in the works is a peer-to-peer mobile app that will allow consumers to sell devices to other consumers. Instead of shipping directly to the buyer, the device will first pass through an Apkudo facility in Dallas where robots will assess its condition with a 199-point checklist, he said.
Apkudo also wants to expand more internationally and will likely eventually raise a Series C round to fund this push, Stephenson said.
“It’s amazing how much business we’re winning these days. It’s a great market right now,” he said. “We have plenty of challenges that we’re solving and it’s really pushing us to expand the platform into new areas.”
