Optoro picks up $75 million in funding

CEO Tobin Moore said the retail returns specialist will use the latest equity round to accelerate product adoption and further invest in research and development.    Optoro Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based provider of returns optimization software, has raised $75 million in new funding from equity investors, the company said in a statement.
   The latest funding round, led by Franklin Templeton, as well as existing investors Revolution Growth, Generation Investment Management and Tenfore Holdings, brings the company’s total capital raised to roughly $200 million.
   Returns always have been a part of retail consumer behavior, but as online e-commerce has grown, so too have the complexities surrounding the logistics of returns. For many traditional and online retailers, returns have become an part of the sales process, giving consumers an easy out if an item isn’t what they expected, doesn’t fit properly or they just don’t like it as much as they thought they would.
   Enter Optoroaims to help retailers and brands manage, process and sell returned and excess inventory through the use of comprehensive data analytics. The company’s platform, which automatically determines the best path for each returned item based on processing costs, transit times and other factors such as environmental impact, has seen volume growth of more than 500 percent in the past two years, according to company figures.
   Optoro co-founder and CEO Tobin Moore said the company will use the latest investment round to accelerate product adoption and research and development.
   “The retail industry has a major problem — returns create tremendous financial, operational and environmental waste,” said Moore. “With this new round of funding, we plan to accelerate the adoption of our solution with the world’s leading retailers and brands and invest in R&D to take our solution to the next level. This positions us to help more retailers increase their profits, while also minimizing their environmental footprints.”
   Robert Stevenson of Franklin Templeton said the investment in Optoro “can build long-term value for our shareholders … by solving the growing problem of customers returns, particularly in e-commerce. Optoro’s platform and large data set enable retailers and brands to manage the $500 billion customer returns market, and generate measurable benefits for their bottom line. With this investment Optoro can rapidly scale the platform to reach more retailers and brands.”
   Ted Leonsis, a partner at Revolution Growth partner and member of the Optoro board, added, “With the return rate growing nearly 10 percent year-over-year, retailers need a technology solution to recoup value and reduce costs. We’re excited to further our investment in one of the most promising growth companies as it continues to prove its value to retailers and brands.”