This is a blog post I wrote for 212 Venture Capital’s blog on Medium. You may view the original post here.

Metrobi Joins 212’s Portfolio

Restaurants, cafés and grocers procure a substantial portion of food and beverage products from local businesses. These are the authentic products that drive consumer choice. After all, no one appreciates a mass-fabricated bagel or coffee when they go to a café. Patrons expect authenticity, quality, and experience.

The economy is challenging for small businesses. It has been even harder since the days after the pandemic’s emergence and facing more than a year-long change in humanity’s existence.

While thousands of local businesses around the globe have a hard time keeping their head above the water, demand for a better quality of life is growing. Communities are coming together to grow food and produce goods with a focus on better craftsmanship as in the time before the Industrial Revolution.

Better craftsmanship and better design of everyday nutritional items, beverages and everyday objects are easier said than done. Local businesses not only need to make great products (which is often the primary reason the owners started their businesses) but they also need to take care of fulfillment and logistics. This is where things get tricky: small business owners are neither logistics experts, not do they have the scale to create efficient operations.

Metrobi is there to bridge production and logistics with their technology and community: with only a couple of clicks, they help small businesses deliver to further-reaching locations more than ever before.

For the last four years, we had the incredible opportunity to observe how the CEO, Oguzhan, has persistently outperformed in various transportation-focused endeavors. The logistics optimization algorithms developed utilizing state-of-the-art research and the cleverly designed growth engines that power the lean team are the solution’s backbone. Daniel, the COO, drives the flexibility, excellent customer support and real-time fixation on success.

Currently available in the US and continuing their expansion in various cities across the country, Metrobi empowers small businesses by taking care of their logistics operations. At just the right time, they are playing a crucial part in tending to post-pandemic economic wounds. They are backed by algorithms developed in-house to optimize costs, reduce risks and monitor logistics. The whopping word-of-mouth is not a big surprise.

A few customer success stories have grabbed our attention: Dorchester Brewing Company started selling their craft beers to liquor stores and increased wholesale revenue. According to the owner, Matt, this was not possible before Metrobi because they didn’t have a bulk order fulfillment system. Jacobson Floral increased their geographical coverage and boosted deliveries to independent florists. That was possible with Metrobi’s flexible fulfillment network. BoardsByMo doubled their charcuterie orders because the founder, Mo, didn’t need to focus her time or energy on fulfillment operations anymore. Metrobi provided her business with an end-to-end solution.

And this is just the beginning.

We are delighted to announce our investment in Metrobi and excited about the journey ahead.