Shopify ups fulfilment game with $2.1 billion Deliverr acquisition

Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) agreed to buy Deliverr, a SF-based e-commerce fulfillment firm, for $2.1 billion.

Why it matters: This is Shopify's largest-ever acquisition, and is intended to help it compete with Amazon's fulfillment service.

Details: Around 80% of the purchase price will be paid in cash, with the remainder in Shopify stock (which is getting pummeled this morning, tied to this deal and an earnings report). A source familiar with the situation says that Shopify initiated deal talks a couple of months ago.

ROI: Deliverr raised around $490 million in VC funding, including a Tiger Global-led Series E round late last year (announced in February 2022) at a $2 billion post-money valuation. It previously raised at a $900 million mark in early 2021. Backers include 8VC, Activant Capital, Coatue, Brookfield Technology Partners, GLP and Alumni Ventures.

More on Deliverr, from TechCrunch's Kyle Wiggers: "Deliverr, which rents out warehouse space and uses warehouses’ fulfillment departments to pick and pack ecommerce orders, anticipates the demand for products based on geography and other variables. The platform then uses the analysis to 'pre-position' items close to areas of demand."