London-based Relay, an e-commerce delivery platform, has secured $35M (approximately €33.4M) in a Series A funding round led by Plural.
Based out of Tallinn, Plural is an early-stage investment fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology.
Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural, says, “There is a global opportunity to reinvent parcel delivery for the digital age. Jonathan and Nicole are the perfect pair to do this, having lived and breathed the last-mile delivery revolution for almost a decade. Their asset-light model, optimised by AI, is already leading to delivery times that are a fraction of incumbents. I look forward to working with them closely to build an ambitious new delivery platform.”
The funding round also includes continued participation from its seed investors, Project A, and Prologis Ventures, the VC arm of global logistics real estate leader Prologis.
The company will use the funding to scale its delivery network nationwide and continue building its engineering and operational teams.
Relay: Re-wiring delivery infrastructure
Founded in 2022 by Jonathan Jenssen and Nicole Mazza, Relay is on a mission to rewire the critical delivery infrastructure to address the growth of e-commerce in Europe and the US.
“Logistics isn’t a transportation challenge – it’s a psychological problem grounded in complicated mathematics,” says Jonathan Jenssen, co-founder and CEO of Relay.
The company’s AI-powered platform enables a decentralised delivery model using hyperlocal nodes, moving away from the inefficient “hub and spoke” model used by incumbents.
By significantly reducing shipping distances, consolidating deliveries, and automating key workflows, the company drastically cuts operating expenses for itself and its merchants.
The company uses AI to optimise every step of the delivery lifecycle to assign parcels dynamically, fine-tune route pricing, and minimise the distance travelled by up to 95 per cent compared to incumbents.
According to the company’s claims, this cost-effective and scalable model has attracted re-commerce platforms like Vinted, social commerce businesses like TikTok, international marketplaces including Temu, and UK retailers such as THG Fulfil.
In 2024, Relay launched a Generative AI Courier Training Tool that has boosted courier Proof-of-Delivery compliance by 82 per cent.
Relay’s technology saves retailers millions each year by stopping fraud and lowering customer support costs.
Already live in major UK cities, including London and Manchester, Relay plans to expand nationwide over the next two years.
“At Relay, we’re using technology to build critical logistics infrastructure that brings down costs while improving delivery speed and reliability. We’ve already proven this model with some of the UK’s largest e-commerce retailers, and with support from our partners and investors, we’re ready to scale our network across the country and beyond,” adds Jenssen.
01
destream: Building the financial backbone of the creator economy