Funds for Retail Fulfilment and CX Company Stord

Atlanta, GA-based CX specialist Stord has raised $250 million in funding. The Series F round values the company at around $3 billion and will be used to boost software development and expand operations. The firm has also opened Stord Labs, dedicated to advancing physical AI and robotics.

Stord helps independent brands optimize their direct consumer relationships, 'from the delivery promise shown at checkout to the return that converts into a repurchase', by providing a 'physical intelligence layer.' By 'independent' the company means brands other than Amazon - the online retail behemoth controls more than one-third of US online commerce.

Founder and CEO Sean Henry explains: 'For years, every independent brand has been left to figure out on their own how to compete against the consumer experience Amazon has spent decades and hundreds of billions building. By every measure, independent brands have been losing. Stord exists to level that playing field. We give independent brands the complete commerce stack: the fulfilment network, software and AI, to deliver a consumer experience that surpasses Prime. Our vertical integration and scaled network create compounding advantages that deliver better, faster, cheaper outcomes with every order we touch.'

Stord Labs, sited at the firm's Atlanta headquarters, builds and validates agentic AI, robotics and advanced automation against real orders, on the same live operating system used by the wider company.

The round was led by existing investors and included Strike Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared, Bond and Lux. Stord has completed eight acquisitions, and today employs more 4,000 people.

Web site: www.stord.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.