A silent battle is unfolding in the busy world of direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce, not in branding or advertising, but in operations. Fragmented logistics networks, unpredictable shipping costs, international tax complications, and rigid inventory systems often trap brands within their own frameworks.
Enter Swap, a startup co-founded in 2022 by Sam Atkinson and Zach Bailet, which aims to do to e-commerce operations what Stripe did to payments, namely consolidate, simplify, and scale.
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The Friction to Flow
The original vision of Swap is as ambitious as it is relevant: the majority of contemporary brands spend their time and resources on uncoordinated tools to control shipping, returns, taxes, and inventory. This inefficiency has not been sustainable in the face of increased consumer expectations and global market competition.
Swap provides an AI-driven operating system for e-commerce. All of this is united on one platform: cross-border logistics, duties and tax compliance, returns management, inventory intelligence, and more.
We want to eliminate the drag on the operation that slows great brands, explains Atkinson, a former corporate lawyer who became a fintech operator. We would like operations to be invisible, just like electricity or the internet.
Global Merchant All-in-One
The platform of Swap is designed to handle the back-end of e-commerce. The important functions are:
- Cross-Border Shipping & Duties: Swap handles customs paperwork, shipment tracking, and guarantees delivery duty paid (DDP) at checkout, so there are no nasty surprises, and conversion rates improve.
- Returns Management: The platform automates returns labels, logistics, and even manages duty drawback, an often-overlooked opportunity to recover lost tax on returns.
- Inventory Intelligence: Using generative AI, the company recently launched Swap Inventory, a new product that predicts demand, optimises prices, and prevents overstocking or running out of stock.
They are all combined in one dashboard, which makes operations more manageable, measurable, and strategic.
The Funding Flywheel
Investors have not ignored the promise of Swap. It closed a $9 million Series A in 2024 with QED Investors and a $40 million Series B in early 2025, led by ICONIQ Growth. Other investors are Cherry Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Klaviyo co-founder Ed Hallen.
The new investment adds up to a total of $49 million, and along with it, the firepower to expand globally. They are providing the brands with the means to act across the world with the assurance and ease of Amazon.
Operational DNA Founders
Atkinson, who previously worked at Juni (an e-commerce financial platform) and in corporate law, informed Swap in terms of regulation, and co-founder Bailet, who had operational experience at Deloitte and in manufacturing companies, contributed pragmatic supply chain expertise.
They have developed a lean team that is fast-paced and together. They have their current base in offices in London, Tel Aviv and the Netherlands. The next point on the roadmap is a New York office, with the company aiming to expand to North America, Europe, Canada, and Australia.
Not Just Software-A New Layer of Infrastructure
Swap is not only a software-based vision. It is creating what Atkinson terms the connective tissue of contemporary commerce, a common spine that joins warehouses, storefronts, customs systems, and tax authorities in real-time.
They not only handle shipments or returns with their platform, but they also collect structured data throughout the entire commerce journey. This will enable AI models to identify trends, provide pricing advice, and predict problems before they occur.
It is a big transition from tools to infrastructure, and that is where the actual market potential is.
Competition and Differentiation
While companies like Global-E address the cross-border e-commerce business, others, such as Autone or Syrup, manage inventory. Swap, however, is its own superpower, addressing all aspects of the business. Swap is not a point solution and does not suffer the same integration bottlenecks that most point solutions do by virtue of owning the entire operating stack.
It also implies that brands that employ Swap do not need to sign contracts with five vendors. Rather, they receive a single, streamlined, AI-enabled, and globally scalable system.
It is not only constructed for billion-dollar brands. Swap is bringing Series A to D startups on board and assisting them in growing quicker without stumbling over logistics.
Next Moves: OS to Ecosystem
The team is developing AI, integrating modules for beauty, home goods, and electronics, and refining Swap Inventory as a central demand planning system.
Swap invests in its brand with a humorous campaign featuring a carrier pigeon as its logo, positioning itself as a modern courier that makes sense of international business chaos.
This is part of a broader effort to humanise logistics and stand out among SaaS providers.
Swap simplifies the complex, a rare move among startups, becoming essential digital infrastructure for future brands. It has a strong product, proven leadership, and investor backing, making it a fast-growing company shaping the future of e-commerce.
When your global order arrives smoothly, chances are, Swap made it happen.
