A United Kingdom-based startup is ready to relay a new message: it has scored a $35 million Series A.
Relay, which focuses on integrating technology to upgrade the speed and sustainability considerations behind last-mile logistics for e-commerce, announced its fundraising Thursday.
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Plural led the Series A round, supported by Relay’s seed investors, Prologis Ventures and Project A.
The London-based company wants to revolutionize last-mile logistics for e-commerce using data, artificial intelligence and physical infrastructure. According to a LinkedIn post from Taavet Hinrikus, partner at Plural, Relay plans to operate 10 small sortation centers throughout the United Kingdom, and dispatch parcels from those locations to small businesses and corner stores—what he calls “pit stops”—where gig economy workers will pick the packages up to deliver them to consumers’ doorsteps.
That, the company contends, can help reduce the carbon footprint of last-mile logistics, which, in many cases, relies on long, planned, start-and-stop delivery routes daily via truck or cargo van. Investors noted that Relay’s technology and strategy has the ability to axe travel distances by up to 95 percent by using hyperlocal nodes to streamline the delivery process.
Today, Hinrikus said, the company has already secured contracts with the likes of Vinted, TikTok, Temu, ASOS and UK e-tailer THG. Partnering with high-volume businesses enables Relay to scale quickly, and Hinrikus expects that, once the technology and infrastructure has been further built out, the startup will be able to take on small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) as clients, as well.
But, for the moment, it appears business at scale is off to a promising start—Hinrikus noted that three of the aforementioned companies sought to invest in the Series A because they feel Relay can truly disrupt the last-mile logistics market.
“They, like us, see the potential for this startup to compete with juggernauts that run this industry like DHL and UPS,” he wrote.
While Relay uses technology to streamline last-mile delivery planning, it also works with those making the deliveries to ensure compliance. Last year, it launched its generative AI-powered Courier Training Tool, which it claims has amped proof-of-delivery compliance by about 82 percent, in turn saving its clients money and hassle on fraudulent claims, delivery issues and other problems often associated with e-commerce.