B2B2C Last-Mile Delivery startup Rider raises $2.3M Seed fund
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The Pakistan-based Tech-driven Last Mile delivery startup Rider has successfully raised $2.3M in its latest funding round. The Seed round was led by Global Founders Capital, Fatima Gobi Ventures, and ADB Ventures, and recorded participation from TPL E-Ventures and Transhold.
Launched in 2019 by Salman Allana, previous head of strategy and business development at UPS Pakistan and assistant vice president at Citi Bank, Rider is a tech-led last-mile delivery B2B2C partner for E-commerce retailers. Gobi Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Asian Development Bank add expansive and critical business acumen to the Rider team, having backed successful startups in the E-commerce and Logistics spaces. Collectively, their investment portfolio spans some of the most innovative startups in Pakistan including Airlift, Truck It In, Safepay, Tajir, Bazaar, and Dastgyr.
Pakistan’s Transport & Logistics (T&L) scene has observed major shifts in Q3 after proving highly successful in mobilizing networks and optimizing shipment through Tech enhancement. Closing 150% more deals in Q3 2021 YoY, the Transport & Logistics sector ranked first by amount of capital invested, raising almost 40% of total capital across the country as recorded in our Q3 2021 Pakistan Venture Investment Report. Two T&L startups, Airlift and Bridgelinx raised 97% of all capital invested in the industry by Q3 2021.
Today, Rider boasts coverage in over 80 cities across Pakistan, with shipper clients including Pakistan’s top five online retailers such as Khaadi and Daraz. The startup’s 500-strong delivery agent fleet, which is easily scalable at peak times, has thus far delivered more than 1.5 million e-commerce parcels across Pakistan with a market-leading success rate of 93%. This latest investment provides the strong network and needed capital for the startup’s growth as Salman Allana, Founder and CEO of Rider highlighted “We’re excited about the investors we have on board – they collectively bring unparalleled logistics industry expertise and emerging markets exposure. Their capital injection will enable Rider’s plans to expand our network and integrate our proven last-mile service into other key parts of the value chain.”
Today, Rider’s app-based platforms, route optimization, live tracking, live scheduling, and highly automated warehousing put the logistics Tech startup at the forefront of Pakistan’s burgeoning last-mile delivery space. Market-leading offerings such as 24-hour cash repayment, 1-day lead time, ‘Cash Now, Deliver Later’, and high overall delivery success rate has made Rider the preferred last-mile delivery partner of national shippers and Pakistan’s growing online SME community. “Ultimately, we want to build an end-to-end e-commerce logistics solution, complete with e-commerce enablement. Our vision is to be the number one logistics solutions provider for Pakistan’s e-commerce needs,” Allana added.
Rider’s exponential growth in just two years is driven by its ability to integrate world-class technology and process innovation into its delivery cycles, building real-time connectivity between its shippers, delivery agents, and customers. The Pakistan-based team will utilize their newly acquired funds to fuel Rider’s network expansion and integration of its last-mile service into other key parts of the value chain, towards building an end-to-end logistics solution, complete with e-commerce enablement. Ali Mukhtar, General Partner of FGV concluded “We are excited to join Rider’s journey towards building a tech-driven end-to-end logistics solution for Pakistan and the region. Rider’s belief that ‘technology moves everything’ has already raised the bar on delivery lead times, cash repayment cycles, and delivery success rates in Pakistan’s logistics industry. With so many customer-centric and problem-solving solutions on the horizon, we cannot wait to see how far Rider’s tech offerings will go in supporting Pakistan’s e-commerce growth ambitions.”
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