Pandion, a parcel logistics network that sought to solve the “middle mile” of e-commerce residential delivery, shuttered operations abruptly last Friday.
Founder and CEO Scott Ruffin, who was also the founder and former head of Amazon Air, told employees in a memo that the company would have to be shuttered immediately, due to an inability to secure more funding, or potentially get acquired by another business.
More from Sourcing Journal
-
Chain Reaction: Mike Kitko of Retail Reworks on Reducing Return Fraud and Recovering Lost Revenue
-
DHL's Returns Acquisition Leads a Hot Start for Logistics M&As in 2025
-
'Stabilized' Canada Post Still Seeing Delivery Delays for Mail, Foreign Parcels
“As many of you know, the leadership team and I have been speaking with many investors and several potential acquirers. We have spent the last month in daily discussions with these parties, including through the holidays. We have been very close to a deal several times,” said Ruffin in the memo. “However, it has become clear to me and the board that those conversations have run their course without a favorable outcome. Due to our legal obligations to our lenders, our board of directors and I have decided that we must immediately shut down the company.”
According to Geekwire, Pandion employed 63 people, all of whom have been laid off. The employees will be paid through Jan. 15 without severance, “because we owe more than we have in the bank.”
Ruffin said the company had already cancelled inbound packages and would have no further pickups. For the minimal packages remaining at the company’s facilities, Pandion had one last dispatch to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
As a result of the closure, Pandion’s headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. will shutter, along with five sortation centers in Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.
Last March, Pandion secured $41.5 million in Series B funding to grow the company’s delivery network and build new technology offerings. At the time, Bloomberg reported that company sales were on track to reach $220 million in 2024.
But that round only helped the firm get through the 2024 fourth quarter, according to Ruffin’s memo.
Pandion raised about $125 million in equity over the last five years.
The company sought to oversee the middle mile of the parcel shipping journey for brands by picking packages up at their fulfillment centers, before bringing them to its own network of five sortation centers. After Pandion sorted the products, the company would deliver them through a network of more than 1 million last-mile drivers.