STAR CAPITAL takes majority stake in MYFLEXBOX

STAR Capital agreed in February 2023 to become majority shareholder of myflexbox, the Salzburg-based operator of an open-access network of automated parcel lockers, investing through its STAR IV Fund, of which it was the first investment. The deal came with €75 million of new funding, all of it paid into the company to finance the roll-out of its network. STAR ended up with 50.6% of the shares, while founding shareholder Salzburg AG, the Austrian multi-utility, kept the remaining 49.4%. Completion was subject to regulatory approvals. myflexbox had started as a corporate start-up inside Salzburg AG, which installed the first locker outside its Salzburg headquarters in October 2019 and spun the business off in 2022. At the time of the agreement, the company had about 25 employees and more than 360 locations in Austria, used by independent express logistics companies, e-commerce providers and consumers. Founders Lukas Wieser, Jonathan Grothaus and Peter Klima stayed on to lead its development alongside STAR and Salzburg AG. Philipp Moy, principal at STAR, said the investment would allow myflexbox to offer its lockers in new markets and at many new sites, helping to cut emissions in last-mile delivery. The funding was intended to take the network to about 4,000 parcel stations by the end of 2025 and to expand across Europe, with Germany as the priority market, alongside closer cooperation with the logistics sector.