Dispatch Goods invests $3.7 million for expansion

Dispatch Goods, a reusable packaging logistics startup in San Francisco, has announced a $3.7 million seed raise. The company will use the new funding to expand geographically, grow its overall number of restaurant partnerships and explore additional packaging opportunities.

According to a news release from Dispatch, the funding comes after the company replaced 250,000 single-use plastics from the waste stream in 2021.

"Achieving this milestone and closing our investment round truly validates our core strategy of taking a systems approach to reuse, instead of a product approach,” says CEO Lindsey Hoell. “Dispatch Goods has built a unique system that is similar to recycling, which enables businesses to recapture the value of packaging and customers to very easily participate in reuse." 

The round was led by Congruent Ventures along with Bread and Butter Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Incite Ventures, MCJ and Berkeley SkyDeck.

Since 2019, Dispatch Goods says it has provided its restaurant partners the opportunity to leverage completely reusable packaging without ever having to worry about the logistics of cleaning or return. Through this partnership, customers can order food off of DoorDash or through restaurants directly. Then, the food is prepared and delivered in reusable bags and containers. Once they've finished their meals, customers can scan the QR code on the containers to schedule at-home collection or they can deposit the packaging at one a return bin.

"The zero-waste movement is rapidly growing, and we see circular packaging as an inevitable part of a sustainable future," says Christina O'Conor, vice president at Congruent Ventures. "[Dispatch Goods] have demonstrated that they have the hustle, strategic insights and passion to create new systems to support an infrastructure designed for reuse."

Dispatch Goods has partnered with DoorDash, Imperfect Foods and 50 restaurants in the Bay Area, including Bombera, Zuni Café and Mixt Salads. The company says Bombera alone has replaced 4,000 items from the waste stream since its launch with Dispatch Goods this past summer.