Wednesday, October 5, 2011

QuietLogistics quietly closes on $5M in funding

By Rodney H. Brown

Article updated as of 3:25 p.m., Oct. 5, 2011.

Scenic Technology Corp. of Andover, which does business as QuietLogistics, has closed on $5.15 million in a new equity funding round, federal documents show.

There are four backers in this newest round for QuietLogistics, but the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t name them. Listed as related persons are Christopher Gaffney of Boston firm Great Hill Partners LLC, along with founders Bruce Welty, CEO and chairman, and Michael Johnson, president and COO. With this latest funding, QuietLogistics has raised approximately $6.6 million over three financing rounds since 2009.

According to Al Dekin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for QuietLogistics, the new money will go toward “general corporate uses, to support our growth.” The company now has more than 400 employees in over three fulfillment centers, he said – in Andover, Devens and Lousville, Ky.

“Our primary business is that of a fulfillment service provider,” Dekin said. “We are a mix of technologists and operation people, sort of the perfect mix of taking a platform like Kiva and delivery its quality as a service model.”

Founded in 2005, Scenic Technology started out in Needham as a supply chain software company but since has transitioned to a robotic fulfillment company, using the robotic warehouse and inventory technology developed by Kiva Systems Inc. and its own software, combined into a retail fulfillment product it calls the Fulfillment Management System. Mick Mountz, CEO of Kiva Systems was recently named a Mass High Tech All-Star for 2011.

The company has a strong customer base within online retail, according to its website. Among the customer wins noted in previous press releases are Alton Lane, Cloudveil, Bucketfeet, Milly and Bonobos, among others. In May, the company named Darby French as its new CFO. French previously was vice president of finance at P&H Solutions in Newton, where she helped in the sale of the company to ACI Worldwide Inc.