An Irvine startup that uses electronic lockers and proprietary software to store and access delivered packages has raised more than $1 million from Tech Coast Angels investors as it expands operations beyond Southern California.
Parcel Pending, established a year ago by Lori Torres, a veteran of Newport Beach-based developer Irvine Company, plans to use the proceeds to purchase more lockers from its Chinese supplier, boost marketing efforts, and hire administrative personnel.
“We have properties across the country interested,” said Torres, a 25-year real estate veteran.
The company sells lockers outright for $6,700 to $18,500, depending on size and number, and then charges property owners a monthly software subscription fee between $250 and $550. It also plans to lease lockers to universities and other schools and charge the end user a small registration fee in a pay-per-use model.
Parcel Pending has a 49-door locker system installed at the 793-unit City Lights apartment complex in Aliso Viejo and the 210-unit 1111 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. It recently signed deals in Atlanta and Canada.
The delivery service is simple and straightforward, a big reason 16 Tech Coast investors from Orange County and Los Angeles unanimously backed the venture last month after hearing a pitch.
A courier punches in a six-digit code and selects an apartment number and locker size. The door pops open, the courier puts the package in, and an automated email and text is sent to the recipient notifying him or her of a pending parcel.
“It’s as easy as using an ATM machine,” Torres said during a recent demo at City Lights.
Parcel Pending is in negotiations with 50 property owners to install lockers and is nearing a pilot test at the Irvine Co.’s Gateway apartments in Orange. The company moved into an executive suite last week on Bake Parkway near the Irvine Spectrum amid a cluster of technology companies.
Broadcom Move Explained
Concerns of a prolonged regulatory approval process that would ultimately depress the value of Broadcom Corp.’s baseband chip business led management at the Irvine-based chipmaker to wind down the line rather than sell assets and IP to a competitor.
“It would add certain challenges and hurdles you would need to get to in order to be a positive economic benefit to the company,” Chief Executive Scott McGregor told analysts in a recent conference call after the company’s second-quarter earnings report. “The other factor we considered is, is it a benefit for the company to be able to put this behind us and move forward in terms of driving our investments in new areas and really focusing on where we want to see the company going forward.”
Broadcom spent more than a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars to become the clear-cut No. 2 supplier of baseband chips, essentially the technical brains of mobile phones, behind San Diego rival Qualcomm Corp. But efforts never materialized into long-term viability, prompting the company to exit the unprofitable segment. Broadcom last month announced it would shed about 20% of its workforce, or some 2,500 people, and consolidate 18 locations as part of a restructuring plan fueled by the wind down.
