Like other industries, logistics is also going through a change as digitalisation takes hold and customer expectations evolve. Individuals and businesses are expecting to get goods faster with more flexibility and at low or no delivery cost. And this is where Netherlands-based startup Packaly wants to make a difference.
Based out of Utrecht, the startup offers a last-mile delivery service, but with a different approach. The company claims that it lets retailers deliver packages to their customers within 60 minutes, the same evening or the next day directly from the store or local stock in a “100 per cent climate-neutral” way.
Raises Seed round
Packaly announced on Wednesday that it has raised €2.4M in its Seed round of funding in collaboration with Fairtree Elevant Ventures. Fairtree is a European investment fund focussed on accelerating ambitious, growth-oriented companies preparing to scale.
Axel Dekker, CEO and co-founder of Packaly, says, “We are proud that Fairtree is investing in the rapid growth of Packaly. We see a fast increase in delivery attention to ship-from-store and sustainable shipping, and Packaly is offering an exclusive way to reach customers with our on-demand delivery and same-day delivery options.”
Demand for sustainable last-mile deliveries grows 42% YoY
Packaly offers fast, reliable and CO2 free shipping options within the same hour or at any given time slot to retailers like Lush, Decathlon, de Bijenkorf, and Blokker. The startup claims to be expanding rapidly, growing 3x year on year. With the raised capital, the startup looks to accelerate its services across the Benelux and Europe.
David Evans, MD of Fairtree Elevant Ventures, says, “Packaly helps retailers win by delighting their customers – offering a unique service to deliver what their consumers want: Instant delivery of online orders, delivered carbon emission-free. Same-day or faster (to same-hour) delivery is increasingly demanded by consumers and is expected to rise to 42 per cent of demanded deliveries. And consumers, retailers, cities and regulators are united in wanting rapidly rising e-commerce deliveries to be CO2 free, to deliver without compromise.”
Currently, Packaly delivers in 125+ cities, has a network of more than 3000+ riders, and offers its express delivery service across 3 countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, to more than 300 customers. The company also reports that it eaches more than 7,000,000 people in the Netherlands and has ambitions to cover the entire country by the end of 2022.
About Packaly
Founded by Adrik Elzing, Axel Dekker and Niels Nijhof in 2018, the company is currently active in Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Amstelveen, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Amersfoort, and Maastricht. It started its delivery service in Amsterdam in March, 2020.
The three founders came up with the idea while walking through the busy shopping streets of the city, noticing that products that were close by were often delivered within 1 to 2 days. And thus Packaly was born with a mission of “making 60 minutes the norm”.
The company is currently working with supermarkets, book stores, sports retailers, local fashion outlets, among others. It also claims that CO2 neutral shipping is part of its DNA. “With our focus on using local resources in a city to deliver products from a store/hub to customers directly, we reduce the impact of last-mile delivery CO2 emissions and city congestions,” says the company.
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