Stord buys AI fulfillment platform Shipwire

E-commerce logistics startup Stord has bought CEVA Logistics subsidiary Shipwire. The deal, which closed Jan. 1 for an undisclosed amount, adds 12 new locations to Stord's growing logistics network and about 60 new employees. Shipwire is an AI fulfillment platform used by e-commerce firms.

"This is a great network, great customers, great team to pull onto our technology and our combined scale," CEO Sean Henry said. "And with that scale, it spins our flywheel up."

The deal also brings dozens of new large and mid-market customers and a host of AI-powered internal execution, planning and routing tools to Stord's network, he added.

Stord will look to partner with CEVA's 120 million square foot network across 170 countries.

This is the seventh acquisition from the Atlanta-based startup that's challenging e-commerce giants such as Amazon by building out a network of infrastructure to help lower shipping costs and speed up deliveries for smaller merchants.

Stord is part of a crowded market of startups that provide logistics and fulfillment services to online businesses, including ShipBob, Flexport's Deliverr, Cart.com and Shipmonk.

Demand for these services has only continued to grow as more consumers shop online, and as merchants increasingly operate storefronts on multiple platforms.

Amazon has sought to capitalize on the trend by offering a competing service that lets businesses tap into its network to ship orders placed on other sites, called multi-channel fulfillment.