CitizenShipper, the people to people online shipping marketplace, today announced it closed $500,000 funding including from investors such as Marvel Venture Partners and that it has joined the Capital Factory tech incubator. CitizenShipper has just completed its 30,000th shipment, moving nearly $15 million in total listings since inception. The sharing economy site manages $500,000 active shipments at any time.
As a dynamic marketplace, Citizenshipper connects people who need things shipped with a vast network of name and address verified individuals who have the time and the equipment to actually perform the shipment. Feedback from users - both shippers and drivers - is that CitizenShipper is fast, easy, professional, overall an incredible service. Shippers are very happy with the price they pay, and drivers feel well compensated.
'Because we connect shipments with drivers going somewhere anyway, customers save up to 90% compared with more traditional shipping methods,' says Richard Obousy, CitizenShipper CEO. 'Our transporters are happy too, being compensated for a journey they are already taking.'
Based on the research performed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), a typical trucking rate is between $1.06 and .69 cents per mile. Drivers on CitizenShipper can profit from charging much less because the company's unique design makes use of empty space in vehicles that are already on the road.
CitizenShipper has countless stories of happy users - on both sides of the business: bands who have funded a tour; college students covering their cross country road trip one shipment at a time. Driver sign ups on CitizenShipper are doubling every month, adding to the 2.5 million miles driven by CitizenShipper transporters to date - to the moon and back five times!
Owners of unique, hard to ship items are grateful for CitizenShipper whether the service helps them move boats, motorcycles, vehicles, art, antiques or heirlooms. CititzenShipper has a big focus on animal and pet transport with endless stories of dogs and cats getting from point A to point B healthy and happy. CitizenShipper helps move exotic animals too, whether getting an 11 week old baby woodchuck safely from Indiana to Texas, or driving 25 hours with a 10 day old Patas monkey to reach a very eager new Mama.
One recent happy CitizenShipper customers said, 'My husband said it was like getting our adopted dog on Amazon Prime. We listed our bid, had a very reasonable offer within moments from a well reviewed shipper and our pet arrived safely two days later. I plan to use the service again without question.'
Security and confidence is top priority at CitizenShipper, which features an impressive collection of safety features including background checks, telephone verification checks and even a social media profile verification. CitizenShipper uses its customer feedback system to ensure only top quality shippers and drivers are part of the community. The company has earned a TrustScore of 9.4 out of 10 from Trust Pilot.
'We were extremely intrigued by CitizenShipper and its unique take on the sharing economy,' said Shashi Vaswani, partner, Marvel Venture Partners. 'It's such a logical business model, and a win-win, CitizenShipper bringing together someone who needs something unique moved and someone going that way anyway.'
About CitizenShipper:
CitizenShipper.com is an online shipping marketplace that utilizes a peer-to-peer, auction-style platform to connect people in need of shipping services with drivers, haulers and transporters throughout the United States and Canada. Launched in 2008 and headquartered in Austin, TX, CitizenShipper.com was originally designed to connect people who need items shipped to a particular location with people already traveling in that direction. The company serves more than 80,000 members and it used for a range of shipping solutions, from boats and vehicles to antiques and heirlooms to pets and exotic animals. To get a quote or submit to be a driver, visit Citizenshipper.com.