Milan, Italy, 11th May, 2022: MBE Worldwide (“MBE”) is pleased to announce a majority share acquisition of GEL Proximity, the first platform dedicated to proximity logistics.
MBE Worldwide is a leading commerce enablement platform providing e-commerce, fulfillment, shipping, marketing and print solutions to SMBs and consumers. In 2021, MBE served over 1,000,000 business customers worldwide generating €1.01 bln (US$1.2 bln) of system wide sales, through its 2,900+ service centers in 53 countries, and €24 bln (US$28.5 bln) of gross merchandise value traded through its PrestaShop e-commerce solutions.
GEL Proximity is an Italian tech platform entirely dedicated to last mile logistics, equipped with a tech connector that currently offers tens of thousands of pickup points allowing consumers to choose among different proximity services. In 2020 GEL Proximity became a spin-off capital company of the Politecnico di Milano, aiming to improve a sustainable growth of the ecommerce channel, with particular attention to urban logistics, environmental impacts and carbon reduction leveraging technology to improve the parcel collecting system.
This acquisition represents a strategic step in MBE Worldwide’s path to growth, developing and scaling up GEL Proximity platform and technology across MBE global footprint will further strengthen its competitive position as a global commerce and logistics platform for businesses.
“Our strategic goal consists in building an integrated platform – both physical and digital – to support SMBs growth.” – said Paolo Fiorelli, Chairman and CEO – MBE Worldwide – “Combining a wide network of Service Centers with one of the most successful ecommerce platforms in the market, positions MBE as a unique player in the global landscape. This acquisition represents a further strengthening of our commercial offer for business customers enabling them to serve even better their final customers.“ – added Paolo Fiorelli.
“The journey we experienced at GEL Proximity is the result of an entrepreneurial idea built with Damiano Frosi and with the support of Politecnico di Milano, Polihub and the Digital Innovation Observatories which had a fundamental role in our path to succeed, together with Europromotion, a company controlled by Italia Distribuzioni, the largest Italian company operating in proximity marketing.” – said Lorenzo Maggioni, CEO & Co-Founder – GEL Proximity – “The last mile represents today the most delicate and expensive phase of the supply chain and our commitment with MBE will be to facilitate access to Logistics Proximity services through innovative and highly customizable technology.” – added Lorenzo Maggioni.
About MBE Worldwide
MBE Worldwide S.p.A. (“MBE”), a privately-owned company with its headquarters in Italy, is a Global Commerce enabler for SMBs and consumers thanks to its platform providing e-commerce, fulfillment, shipping, marketing and print solutions via multi-brand operations: PrestaShop, Mail Boxes Etc. (except the US and Canada), PostNet, PACK & SEND, Spedingo.com, AlphaGraphics, Multicopy, Print Speak and GEL Proximity. The combination of our retail platform – that currently counts 2,900+ Service Centers in 53 Countries with more than 12.000 associates – with our PrestaShop e-commerce platform served 1+ Mln business customers in FY2021 generating €1.01 bln (US$1.2 bln) of System Wide Sales and €24 bln (US$28.5 bln) of e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value.
For additional information please visit MBE Worldwide Group websites at: www.mbecorporate.com – www.prestashop.com/en – www.mbeglobal.com – www.postnet.com – www.packsend.com.au – ww.spedingo.com/en – www.alphagraphics.com – www.multicopy.nl – www.printspeak.com – www.mbe.it – www.mbe.es – www.mbe.de – www.mbefrance.fr – www.mbe.pl – www.mbeportugal.pt – www.mbe.co.uk – www.gelproximity.com
About GEL Proximity
GEL Proximity is the first B2B platform to connect eShops, Fulfillment Operators and Road Carriers with the innovative last mile delivery services. The Software is a tech connector able to manage thousands of Collection Points and Lockers owned by different logistics Partners. The mission of the company is to support the amazing growth of the e-commerce channel by offering a greater number of logistics Proximity services and to improve the Smart Cities conversion by reducing emissions and favoring the package collection system. GEL Proximity is a Capitals company and from 2020 it has been included among the prestigious list of Politecnico di Milano’s Spin Offs. In April 2022 GEL Proximity was acquired by MBE Worldwide.
