Shyp

Shyp was an on-demand shipping company founded in 2013 by Kevin Gibbon, Joshua Scott, and Jack Smith. Gibbon's personal frustration with the complexities of shipping as an eBay power seller was the catalyst for the company's creation. Prior to Shyp, Gibbon was an engineer who had led a team at Boeing in creating an iPad application for cockpit use, while Scott was a user experience expert and Smith was a co-founder of Vungle.

The company's core service allowed customers, initially individuals, to take a photo of an item they wanted to ship using a mobile app. A courier would then pick up the item, often within 20 minutes, take it to a warehouse where it would be professionally packaged, and then sent via the most cost-effective major carrier like FedEx or UPS. The business model was based on charging a flat pickup fee, which started at $5, and generating revenue through arbitrage by securing volume discounts from shipping carriers and charging customers the standard retail shipping rate. Shyp managed its own network of couriers, who were classified as employees rather than contractors, and operated its own warehouses with custom box-cutting machines to ensure a high-quality customer experience.

Shyp attracted significant venture capital, raising over $62 million in total, including a notable $50 million Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins. This funding fueled an aggressive geographic expansion into cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Over time, the company shifted its focus from infrequent individual consumers to higher-volume small businesses and e-commerce sellers, even integrating with eBay. Despite achieving operational profitability in its home market of San Francisco toward the end of its life, the high costs of its operating model and the strain from its earlier rapid expansion proved unsustainable. The company ultimately shut down all operations on March 27, 2018, after failing to secure additional funding.

Keywords: on-demand shipping, logistics service, courier pickup, package delivery, mobile shipping app, e-commerce fulfillment, shipping solutions, return service, last-mile delivery, venture-backed, Kevin Gibbon, Kleiner Perkins, Shyp shutdown, on-demand economy, logistics startup, package and ship, eBay shipping, small business shipping, shipping arbitrage, San Francisco startup