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Incumbents in the bundle deliveries place usually have fixed day-by-day routes from suburban depots . But since most parcels are fairly lightweight , this is a bit of a hammer to break a testicle . So it make sense to “ Uber - ise ” local deliveries . Indeed , in Asia , the “ asset free ” saving model of using mini depots instead of large owned entrepot has proliferated . That manakin is scarcer in Europe , however .
Thus , Relay , which has a speech platform for e - commerce company , has elevate a $ 10 million seminal fluid round , led by Project A Ventures of Berlin and Prologis Ventures in the U.S.
Relay ’s final stage - to - goal piece of land obstetrical delivery divine service — which admit the first , in-between and last Swedish mile — utilize urban - base “ pitstops ” and messenger , meaning it has less overhead compared to suburban area entrepot and sorting middle , it claims .
The ship’s company pronounce its routing platform matches couriers to routes and combines deliveries and payoff in one route , not unlike Uber ’s model . It also says client can end up with a next - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. service . Local courier are entitle to ill and vacation pay , as well as other benefit , order Relay .
guest currently include the turgid U.K. retailers JD Sports , THG ( which has firebrand such as MyProtein and Glossybox ) and other enterprise retailers . It is now live in London , with a U.K.-wide rollout planned for 2024 .
“ In Asia , deliverance companies were built specifically for e - commerce — in Europe and the US , it was the exact inverse , with delivery party built for a pre - internet world , ” said Jonathan Jenssen , co - laminitis and chief executive officer of Relay in a instruction . “ relay race is bridging the gap between rapidly evolving e - commerce and old - school delivery . ”
In the U.K. , Relay will be competing with Evri , Royal Mail , Yodel and DPD , among others .