Over the last 12 months, Shappi – a three-year-old startup – has delivered more than $5 million in products to more than 300 locations and thousands of customers in South America. Described as the logistics-travel equivalent of Uber or Airbnb, the company has raised $5 million of investment funding, including the decision to jettison Silicon Valley for a friendlier, more welcoming city.
Chattanooga, of course.
Shappi is a perfect story of Chattanooga start-up success. Having graduated from Brickyard to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s INCubator program, housed within the Hamilton County Business Development Center, the global start-up represents the best of both worlds: the intercontinental reach and influence of a tech-based start-up coupled with Chattanooga’s signature background of support, investment, networking and development – from Brickyard to INCubator and beyond.
The story began on an airplane.
“I’m from Ecuador,” said founder Karla Valdiviesco. “I needed to buy a few computers for my office.”
Several years ago, Karla was consulting with more than 50 start-ups and needed additional computers. Yes, computers are for sale in Ecuador, but at skyrocketed costs. Not just computers … but nearly everything.
“We don’t have an Amazon to deliver to us,” Karla said. “We don’t have US retailers in Latin America. For example, there are only two Apple stores, and they only exist in Mexico. Everything we needed to buy, we needed to import.”
So, she booked a flight to Miami, and then, as countless others have done before, posted to family and friends: I have some luggage space available. Need anything?
“People have been doing this for many years,” she said. “As long as there’s been travel.”
There, on her return flight home, with luggage packed – clothes, vitamins, phones – for a dozen friends and family, Karla, with years of startup and entrepreneurial wisdom, began wondering:
We have Airbnb and Uber. Can I build something similar for the travel industry? Can I build something that people trust?
She spent the next year traveling, researching data and trends, talking with folks in the US and Latin America.
“They’re buying everything from clothing to accessories to vitamins to technology. Anything you can buy online. Anything you can buy on Amazon,” she said. “That’s what people are buying.”
Before Shappi, they had three options.
- Purchase from a reseller at two or three times US prices. (Crazy expensive.)
“You’re paying between $2000 and $3000 for a phone,” she said.
- Order and pay the UPS freight charge for delivery. (Also, crazy expensive.)
- “The only option? Wait for family and friends,” she said.
Just as Uber normalized riding in cars with strangers, Shappi could normalize the experience of having a stranger deliver your online purchases for you.
In 2021, she and CJ Valdiviesco – Karla is the CEO, CJ the COO – launched Shappi. (It’s a mashup of “happy” + “shopping” + “shipping”.)
Their first step: create a verification process for their “travelers.” Background checks, biometrics, information to verify them – all designed to create a process sturdy with trust and dependability.
Then: insurance. And logistics.
They launched a website and app, offering people in Colombia and Ecuador a simple way to purchase US-made products at US-based costs. They click. Shappi does the rest: an US-based and verified traveler receives the online orders, books a plane tickets and travels to the doorstep in Colombia and Ecuador, delivering the goods and orders.
“We have over 400,000 downloads of the app,” she said. “Our customers at least purchase rate of 50%.
Last quarter, we delivered over $1 million with less than 100 travelers.”
Their early days were spent in San Diego, courting Silicon Valley.
“One of our first investors was Snapchat,” she said.
The opportunity came to move to Chattanooga and into Brickyard – the Main Street venture capital firm and entrepreneurial incubator.
“They know logistics,” she said of the Brickyard founders. “And this is a hub. What better way to learn and expand our business than with people who know how to do it right?”
“This is where we put roots,” she said.
Each day, Shappi receives between 300-500 packages and boxes. Originally, they used part of Brickyard’s space; soon, they outgrew it.
The Hamilton County Business Development Center stepped in, offering a 1700-square-foot facility and warehouse. There, Shappi received vast support within the INCubator experience. Considered Chattanooga’s premier business development hub, INCubator offers physical spaces – for both office and manufacturing needs – while surrounding startup owners with a vast network of support. INCubator offers a three-year program that encourages growth and scale, market reach and a strong, unique business model.
Then, Shappi created what it calls an AI-box. In the past, employees would open and catalog and document each package. Now, they place the package into a closed box, with two cameras connected to AI-technology; it documents and verifies each product.
Any damage? Different color? Shappi notifies the customer immediately.
Soon, Shappi will begin fundraising again, with possible investment opportunities available. The future is amazingly bright.
“If I could have magic wand, I would love to be part of the checkout page of e-commerce,” Karla said.
Imagine if Amazon opened up to Latin America; behind the scenes, Shappi could serve as the delivery company responsible for logistics.
“I envision Shappi being a key player for expansion for couriers and UPS and for Amazon,” she said. “We can work with UPS and partner into the logistics.
“That partner can be Shappi.”
Read more about Shappi on WDEF News 12.
