In an Interview with Startup Valley News: Nothing Comes from Nothing!

parcelLab launched in 2014 with three founders addressing a fundamental gap: improving customer communication during shipping. Rather than relying on standard carrier notifications, the company developed personalized messaging that achieves open rates of 70% and click rates of more than 30%. By 2017, the Munich-based team had grown to 20 employees serving 90+ customers globally.

Origin Story

The founders discovered through retailer conversations that dissatisfaction existed with logistics provider transparency. The breakthrough insight centered on perspective: the retailer, not the logistics service provider, should inform the customer where their package is at the moment. This proactive communication approach enables retailers to control messaging and respond quickly to delivery issues.

Challenges & Financing

The initial concept failed substantially. Real direction emerged through Google Launchpad conversations with merchants. The reorientation caused internal discord -- not all team members supported the pivot.

Funding came from three sources:

• Founder personal investment
• EU Accelerator SpeedUp EUROPE support
• August 2016 venture capital from Bayern Kapital and four business angels

Target Market & Services

The platform serves online retailers across sectors, including established brands like Tchibo and Cyberport. Core offerings include branded shipping communications maintaining customer transparency, logistics provider performance monitoring, and cross-sell and upselling integration at customer touchpoints.

Founder Recommendations

Three essential principles for aspiring entrepreneurs:

1. "Nothing comes from nothing!" Founding a startup means working hard and forcing success.
2. "Sell first, then comes the product!" Validate demand before building.
3. "Make customers happy!" Through dedicated customer success management.

Source: Interview conducted by Sabine Elsasser, April 2017, Startup Valley News