36|86: Veteran-led Kanga Technology has suitors, eyes $3M-$5M Series A

By Milt Capps


36|86: Veteran-led Kanga Technology has suitors, eyes $3M-$5M Series A | Kanga Technology, Partpic, 3686, LaunchTN, distribution, delivery, logistics, Kanga4x, Kanga Delivery, UPS, Lyft, FedEx, Everett Steele, Ricky Steele, Alex Rhodeen, Morris Manning and Martin, Silicon Valley Bank, Sam Shah, Adrienne Taylor, Shyp, Roadie, Manish Shah, Scott Miller, Partpic, US Army, DHL,

CEO Everett Steele

KANGA Technology, the Atlanta parent of the Kanga Delivery driver-on-demand platform, is eyeing a $3MM-$5MM Series A raise for 3Q 2016, and the company receives serious approaches from potential bidders.

Co-Founder and CEO Everett Steele, 34, this week told Venture Nashville that Kanga, which was showcased among Village36 firms during LaunchTN's 38|86 conference this summer, could confront a take-out acquisition offer that could prove to be in the best interest of its stockholders.

Steele said Kanga's owners are intensely focused on growth and have deep confidence "that the global opportunity here is massive" for both Kanga's Uber-model platform for last-mile delivery-services transactions, and its white-labeled software. Kanga was chartered 3Q13.

Rhodeen

The company has a team of six FTEs, and it projects it will reach "cash-positive" in 3Q16, COO Alex Rhodeen, 40, told VNC. Staffing is likely to expand significantly in 2H16.

Kanga Technology offerings include Kanga Delivery, the platform that provides crowd-sourced drivers for local delivery gigs in key markets, in response to individuals, corporate customers and other logistics companies; Kanga4x.com, the white-labeled SaaS offering for customers with their own driver pools; and, the Kanga Driver Network, through which the company aggregates drivers for all customer bases.

According to Kanga materials online, current customers include PLDT (Asia wireless carrier), Delta Airlines customer service, Georgia-Pacific and Intercontinental Hotels Group, among others.

The company's legal counsel are attorneys with Morris, Manning & Martin. Kanga banks with Silicon Valley Bank. It receives strategic technology support from Atlanta-based Sam Shah. Knoxville-based Adrienne Taylor, a former Kanga team member, also remains an advisor.

Kanga Delivery is live in Nashville, Atlanta and Athens, Ga. The company has lined-up a market-development partner in Canada; has some business underway in the Philippines and in South Africa; and, it plans near-term rapid expansion in the southeastern U.S., with new-market priorities for 2016 including Memphis, Chattanooga, Tampa and Charlotte.

Kanga has raised at least $1.65MM in equity and debt capital, $1MM of which came in a 2014 Angel round, according to Crunchbase. VNC research indicates a convertible round remains open.

Crunchbase shows the company had a $5MM pre-money valuation ahead of a transaction earlier this year. The Vator database says Kanga had a $1.75MM valuation, a year or so ago, when it entered the incubator of the Atlanta Technology Development Center.

Shah

Steele confirmed that he and major stakeholder Scott Miller, a 37-year-old serial entrepreneur, as well as Kanga VP-Growth Manish Shah all individually have unrelated passive investments in other companies.

Miller

Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Miller has wide-ranging interests, including stakes in Payments and Ticketing sectors, according to his LinkedIn; and, Shah's background includes stops at CapGemini and Ernst & Young.

Other investors include the CEO's father, 63-year-old Angel investor, entrepreneur and networking expert Richard E. 'Ricky' Steele Jr., who is a minority investor; and, Hinal Sheth, M.D., a Toronto-based physician.

Steele and Rhodeen are U.S. Army veterans, having served six and 10 years, respectively. Connecticut-born Rhodeen was a drill sergeant and Georgia native Steele was, among other duties, deployed to lead a platoon in Iraq, with more than 300 combat missions.

Earlier this year, the CEO told VNC that while Kanga had no "direct competitor in the delivery aggregation space, [it has] plenty of competitors on the actual execution of delivery, like Roadie, Zipments, Shyp, etc." In addition, he said, likely future competitors could include FedEx, UPS, DHL and perhaps Uber and/or Lyft.

Steele and Rhodeen said Kanga has established or aims to develop relationships with potential strategic competitors, and can augment other logistics companies' services, in most cases.

Another Atlanta-based company, PartPic, won this year's 36|86 pitch contest, details here.

The 2016 36|86 event is June 6-7, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville. VNC