On delivering promises: MyJobNow (and its courier service Sendx) gets acquired by Skroutz
As Venture Capitalists, we are used to promises. Part of our job is to “believe” the vision and the opportunity of the builders of this world. And as I tend to argue lately, we are also in the business of finding “the next believer”, the next investors for our portfolio companies, or an acquirer. Today, we are thrilled to announce the acquisition of MyJobNow’s last-mile delivery business, operating under the brand name Sendx, by e-commerce marketplace leader Skroutz. This marks Velocity’s second exit to date.
Some background and a couple of key takeaways from their story.
Stefanos, Agamemnon and Alex — MyJobNow Founders — are truly skilled and passionate operators. I knew Stefanos way before his MJN days, and even his VC past, as a young startup founder circa 2013 — when he spent time being incubated @ Found.ation.
Stefanos’ operational alter ego, Agamemnon, with whom we were high school classmates, left a promising career in Corporate Venture to join the startup pirate ship together with Alex, whom I consider as one of the most capable CTOs of our ecosystem, already with one exit under his belt, prior to co-founding MJN.
Takeaway #1: Track record, opportunity cost and commitment
MJN’s road to date was a bumpy one, validating the rule of non-linear development of the startup world. They started with the mission to democratize access in the job market for blue-collar workers in 2018, just one month before the beginning of our investment period. The company was growing with a significant client base and healthy economics, and in H2 2019 MJN was already in its second market, Italy.
Six months later, COVID-19 happened. The company, luckily, by the time Europe started to experience the lockdown effect, had established a second product line, on-demand staffing for delivery services, which later evolved into a fully-fledge same-day courier service under the label ‘Sendx’. This development would eventually provide the necessary alternative to counterbalance the humongous decline of the blue-collar job market due to the pandemic, aiming to provide same day last-mile courier services.
Takeaway #2: Test, improve and adjust
Despite the fact that last-mile courier services were not part of MJN’s initial plan when it was founded, the team tackled an extraordinary opportunity, and through trial and error managed to build a successful and reputable revenue-generating business while the courier sector in Greece faced unprecedented pressure.
Now the MJN team will serve and make hundreds of thousands of customers happy, every single day, by delivering their orders on time. The team is partnering with George and his Skroutz squad and is ready to accelerate the Skroutz rocketship to new highs.
It’s also exciting to note that this is the first time a Greek Tech Group is acquiring a venture-backed startup company in our country. We are happy to see signs of completion of the capital curve for high-growth companies, also from local and regional players.
I’d like to thank Stefanos, Agamemnon and Alex, and the other team members who let Velocity.Partners become part of their story.
By Dimitris Kalavros-Gousiou, Co-Founder & Partner
Velocity.Partners is part of the Equifund family of venture capital funds and is also supported by the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation” (EPAnEK).
