Columbus startup Loop Returns has raised $50 million toward a $60 million offering, according to a regulatory filing, to expand its technology that handles returns for independent retailers on the Shopify platform – and seeks to convert those transactions into exchanges and win customer loyalty.
Founder and CEO Jonathan Poma declined to comment, which is common when rounds remain open, to avoid the appearance of public solicitation.
The round is an extension of the $65 million Series B that first closed in July 2021, according to an amended Form D filed last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. If the full $60 million is raised, that would bring the total Series B to $125 million.
Nationally, U.S. VC investing dropped steeply between the first and fourth quarters of 2022, according to the latest Venture Monitor report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.
Loop processed about 60,000 returns a day in the last week of the year – one every 1.25 seconds on Dec. 27, its busiest day ever, according to a recent release.
Shopify itself was among investors in the 2021 round. The extended round now has a total of 37 investors, according to the regulatory filing, up from 24 noted in the filing from 18 months ago. The company is incorporated as Xariable Inc.
The company had been using proceeds of the round to hire towards sales and product development, especially to increase automation of the returns process with less human intervention.
More than 1,800 merchants on Shopify use Loop, which creates a 24/7 portal for customers to initiate a return but first encourages an exchange. Customers that exchange on the platform are one-third more likely to make a repeat purchase from the same brand, in-house analysis indicates.
The Columbus company is remote-first with extensive hiring in Central Ohio. It had been aiming to top 100 employees last year. To date it has raised a cumulative $125 million in VC.
