Direct mail market leader announces first major equity transaction and plans to build out owned channel marketing platform
GREENVILLE, S.C. — PostPilot, the fastest-growing direct-mail marketing company in the U.S., today announced a strategic investment from global growth equity firm Summit Partners, with participation from Klaviyo founders Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen. The funding will be used to accelerate hiring, further expand internationally and continue development of PostPilot’s proprietary direct mail targeting and execution capabilities.
“PostPilot has helped thousands of ecommerce and omnichannel brands across nearly every category unlock the power of direct mail,” said co-CEO Drew Sanocki, who founded the company with co-CEO Michael Epstein in 2018. “This strategic investment allows us to innovate even faster and accelerate our mission to help brands grow at a time of increasing online competition and consumer privacy. We’ve proven that direct mail works, and we’re building on that success every day.”
PostPilot believes that brands must leverage a mix of marketing channels to drive revenue and build strong customer relationships. By facilitating thoughtful, personalized customer communication, PostPilot helps enable brands to market at scale, unimpeded by ad networks and other intermediaries. Powered by an innovative, data-driven direct mail platform, PostPilot campaigns target the full customer funnel, from retention to retargeting to prospecting, offering AI-powered targeting features designed to enhance customer interactions and boost campaign performance.
Top brands—including ecommerce leaders Dr. Squatch, Hexclad, and Good American—rely on PostPilot to help drive sales, acquire higher lifetime value customers and diversify their marketing.
“At a time when media mix diversity is increasingly critical, PostPilot has built a leading self-serve programmatic direct mail platform used by brands and agencies around the world to help acquire and retain customers,” said Melanie Whelan, a Managing Director with Summit Partners and former CEO of SoulCycle.
“We have been particularly impressed by Drew and Michael’s deep understanding of the customer and their ability to develop innovative solutions designed to address the challenges that omnichannel and digitally native brands face today. We first learned of PostPilot following enthusiastic reviews from several consumer companies, and we look forward to partnering with this impressive team during this next phase of growth,” added Julianne Hummelberg, Vice President with Summit Partners who has joined the PostPilot board of directors.
PostPilot has native integrations with the ecommerce solutions DTC brands use most. The company’s frictionless interface lets brands of all sizes leverage their existing customer data across Shopify, Klaviyo, Attentive, Recharge and other key platforms.
Andrew Bialecki, founder and CEO of Klaviyo, added: “Ed and I have watched PostPilot grow from afar. Like Klaviyo, they are fanatical about helping B2C businesses transform data at scale into smarter, personalized experiences. We are excited to back a company that shares our mission to help brands succeed through deeper customer relationships built across every interaction.”
This funding – the company’s first major equity transaction -- comes at a time of strong momentum and expansion for PostPilot. Over the last year, the company opened new production facilities in the U.S. and U.K. and has launched several innovative products – including SiteMatch for website retargeting, ShopDrops to support in-store retail sales and lookalike audiences for prospecting. In addition, PostPilot was named to the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.
PostPilot has remained profitable even as the company has continued its rapid growth trajectory, generating revenue growth of over 200% in 2023 alone.
“Summit Partners has a long history of partnering with category-leading companies, including Klaviyo, Brooklinen, and Solo Brands,” said Michael Epstein, founder and co-CEO of PostPilot. “The Summit team has a deep understanding of the PostPilot technology and the opportunity ahead, and we are thrilled to work together to unlock new growth channels for consumer brands around the world.”
AboutPostPilot
PostPilot is the fastest-growing direct-mail marketing company in the U.S. according to the 2023 Inc. 5000 ranking. Created by omnichannel marketers for omnichannel marketers, PostPilot makes it easy for brands to acquire and retain customers with smart, AI-driven postcard and catalog campaigns. For more information, please visit postpilot.com or follow on LinkedIn.
About Summit Partners
Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm with capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income, and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 550 companies in technology, healthcare, and other growth industries. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. A complete list of Summit investments can be found here. For more information, please see summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn.
