Arka Brings Packaging Logistics Into the 21st Century

Introduction

Note: This recommendation was co-authored by KingsCrowd Investment Research Analyst Teddy Lyons.

Update from Andy: We don’t usually include updates like this. But we want to make absolutely sure there’s no misunderstanding Arka’s raise performance.

As of late December 2022, Arka has raised $61,138 of a maximum amount of $250,000 through its raise on the Republic portal. Not great, right? If that’s the way you feel, you need to know some things.

In actuality, Arka has raised a total of $1.8 million. The Republic raise, in CEO Phillip Akhzar’s words, “is the cherry on top.” In other words, most of the raise has been done outside of the Republic crowdfunding raise.

Arka’s raise is already successful. The company will do everything with the proceeds that it was planning to do. Phillip is also confident that it will be able to raise the remaining $200,000.

So far, the company has had more success raising from institutional and angel investors than from crowdfunding investors. Hopefully, that will change. Arka’s Republic raise closes on January 1, 2023. The raise may be extended, but it’s too risky to count on that. If you wish to invest in this promising startup, I suggest you do it today.

The one reason we didn’t mention (and should have): Arka now has the investment capital to continue its outstanding progress to date.

My colleague Teddy Lyons recently moved into a new apartment. Once he unpacked, he realized that there were a dozen additional items that he needed to order online.

One of those items was a shower curtain. When he received the package, it came in a massively oversized box. The shower curtain package was the size of a small book, and the cardboard box was the size of a television.

Teddy told me he immediately thought to himself, what a waste of packaging.

It just didn’t make sense. He did further research on the company he ordered from and learned that it uses what is known as a 3PL company — a third-party logistics provider.

3PLs are invisible to consumers because they operate behind the scenes. But they are the gears that keep online shopping running smoothly. When you order something online, 3PLs take care of picking the item off the shelf, packing it in a box, and shipping it to you. They offer a cost-effective way for small- and medium-sized businesses to outsource the packaging and shipping process.

But they’ve got issues.

The biggest one is running out of packaging. It can cause 3PLs to use oversized boxes (as Teddy experienced with his shower curtain). Or, even worse, it can cause orders to be delayed.

Consumers aren’t the only ones scratching their heads over this. It can also lead to businesses seeking out a new 3PL provider, costing thousands in lost revenue for these 3PLs.

Now, you may be thinking there must be an automated process for ensuring that 3PLs don’t run out of packaging.

Well, you’d be wrong.

Amazingly, warehouses are operating as if it’s still the 1950s. A manager walks around the facility with a clipboard to count boxes. If the manager sees a shortage, they call up a packaging company to place an order. The manager then fills out a form and schedules a time for delivery.

This process can take days to complete. Oh my.

Talk about inefficiency.

Arka, the company I’m introducing to you today, is the first company to create a solution to automate the packaging reorder process for 3PLs.

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