South Bend startup 'rScan' to expand, diverting retail returns from landfill

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- A South Bend start-up, rScan, is set to expand, going from ten employees to more than 150. Formerly known as "Palletboss," rScan just got a major boost from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

Friday, rScan CEO Rod Baradaran gave ABC57's Annie Kate an exclusive tour of their facility and operations.

The tech startup was founded by Baradaran, Ryan Ryker, and Julian Marquez, who all went to Penn High School Together.

They say roughly one in three online purchases gets returned. After realizing that big box retailers don't have enough third-party buyers to take care of their returns, and mostly throw them away, they saw dollar signs.

"What we do is we resell products and returns," Baradaran said. "We get these products up for sale online. We developed our own software in-house."

rScan is a third-party buyer, purchasing returns in bulk at a fraction of the cost from big box stores and putting them back in the marketplace for a second life.

The app they developed scans in returns, allowing them to add images and dimensions for the product, and then list it for resale on eBay, Amazon, Shopify, and elsewhere.

Their app uses AI technology to price the items and remember where they're stored within the warehouse, Baradaran said. They typically have two truckloads of product sent out each day, picked up by an Amazon shipping truck or a big mailer like UPS.

The IEDC is investing about $1.2 million in tax incentives for rScan to expand, and they are looking to hire 152 new workers over the next five years.

"We want to continue growing right now," Baradaran said. "We have a highly profitable business. Right now, there are so many returns out there. There's over $800 billion worth of returns, and we just see ourselves continuing to grow in South Bend."

Baradaran also said they're in the business of helping others start their own resale businesses, with rScan providing the inventory and the technology.