Arrive Recommerce (Arrive) is a recommerce platform that enables brands to resell returned items – that may have signs of use and can’t be sold as new – by utilizing a combination of logistics software and online distribution. Arrive provides the back-end technology to brands to process returns in their facilities or designated third-party logistics (“3PL”) warehouse facilities. Like many successful startups, it took tremendous hard work and ingenuity to get there…with a few twists and turns along the way!
Quintessential startup cofounders Rachelle Snyder and Ross Richmond began their entrepreneurial journey in their home garage in 2017, founding the company with a vision to disrupt e-commerce for outdoor adventure gear. Their search for growth capital soon led them to the Women Founders Network Fast Pitch competition, where they were paired up with Mark Wald, founder of SPRCHRGR, to be their financial coach throughout the competition, which they won! Flush with cash and armed with a compelling story, they set their sights on accessing new capital for their expansion plans.
Like most startups, Arrive’s business model evolved through multiple iterations along its entrepreneurial trek up the mountain. The ascent didn’t come with paved roads or even a trail map – navigating the path to maximum value creation for each stakeholder in Arrive’s ecosystem required careful footwork around obstacles at each turn and cross-functional coordination to reach new heights.
Rachelle and Ross relied on Mark and the SPRCHRGR team to manage their numbers at every step along the way, from financial projections and pricing scenario models to cash flow optimization and timely board reporting.
Arrive worked closely with SPRCHRGR to test different business model assumptions through iterative financial forecast models, building on lessons learned from each cycle. Then we performed monthly variance analysis to validate and fine-tune key assumptions while tightly managing cash burn. We also worked together to test different pricing models as Arrive explored prospective new brand and logistics partnerships, which provided clarity and confidence for both parties to align on mutually beneficial terms.
“We gained so much traction by having a fractional CFO and accounting team like SPRCHRGR supporting us,” said Ross Richmond, cofounder of Arrive. “Every step of the way, they helped us build and analyze financial models that led to the right decisions.”
Each new partnership deal and growth inflection point introduced a different set of accounting and operational complexity as Arrive aimed to find product-market-fit. So as soon as the ink was dry on a new contract, SPRCHRGR’s bookkeeping + controllership team stepped in to take ownership of designing, managing, and then streamlining the rapidly increasing volume of accounting and related back-office work to support each new deal.
“Having solid accounting and finance guidance meant we could focus on scaling our business and securing new partnerships,” said Rachelle Snyder, cofounder of Arrive. “We knew that as we grew and made strategic pivots, we had the right processes in place. We felt confident in our direction and were ready for due diligence, internal staffing, and investor reporting needs in the future.”
With more and more major brands lining up to embrace Arrive’s Returns to RecommerceTM technology solution, Arrive worked quickly to refine its own business model for scale. SPRCHRGR played an integral role in reimagining Arrive’s data flows to provide timely and accurate financial reporting in accordance with GAAP standards. We worked closely with Arrive’s engineering team to rewire and integrate their proprietary back-end database with a substantially retooled accounting process that minimized reliance on costly and error-prone manual spreadsheet-based analysis. Our approach enabled true accrual-based revenue and COGS recognition, complete with audit-ready supporting schedules in anticipation of the next round of investor due diligence.
SPRCHRGR prepared for and regularly attended Arrive’s board meetings to provide strategic leadership with visibility into the company’s most critical financial metrics. We also obsessed over various pricing and payment scenarios to find the most cash-advantageous terms that helped extend Arrive’s runway by several extra months.
Anticipating a new growth trajectory coming out of their Series A capital raise, we imagined a new staffing model that included adding a dedicated full-time internal finance hire to Arrive’s team. SPRCHRGR helped screen resumes and interview candidates for that position, then diligently trained their new hire to take ownership of the most critical accounting + finance functions while maintaining proper segregation of duties to safeguard Arrive’s assets and ensure confidence in its financial reporting.
Arrive’s rapid ascent to becoming a category leader in the recommerce market leveraged its proprietary data, technology, and partnerships to unlock new opportunities. The partnership forged over the past eight years between Arrive’s founders, Rachelle and Ross, and SPRCHRGR’s founder, Mark Wald, has braved the elements through many seasons and promises to continue standing the test of time for many years to come.
“We are tremendously grateful to Ross and Rachelle for their trust in our team to support their entrepreneurial journey,” says Mark Wald, CEO and Founder of SPRCHRGR. “We appreciate their vision, tenacity and collaborative mindset at each stage of the startup lifecycle. We’re also particularly impressed by their pay-it-forward commitment to sharing their experience and insights with other startup founders pioneering marketplace technology.”
SPRCHRGR has the team and experience to help you scale up and position your vision for new capital with financial modeling services – contact our team to start a conversation.