Relay, a tech-enabled delivery network for e-commerce leaders and their end-customers, announces today that it has raised a €9.2 million seed financing round, led by Project A Ventures and Prologis Ventures. The company provides an end-to-end parcel delivery service – including the first, middle and last miles – from e-commerce retailers’ warehouses to consumers’ doorsteps.
Founded in 2022, Relay’s disruptive service is built on a network of asset-free hyper-local partners, made up of urban pitstops and couriers. Thanks to this model, Relay is able to significantly reduce traditional logistics overheads, such as suburban area depots and sorting centres, that incumbents still rely on, making parcel deliveries quicker, more efficient and more sustainable.
Backed by Project A, a leading early-stage tech VC in Europe, and Prologis Ventures, Prologis’ corporate venture capital group, Relay, in its first year, has already partnered with e-commerce leaders, such as JD Group, THG, which includes brands like Cult Beauty, MyProtein, Lookfantastic and Glossybox, and other enterprise retailers. By the end of the year, the business will be annualising millions of deliveries per year, just 15 months post-launch.
Relay’s service is live in London and plans to expand across the UK over the next 12 months. The company is already working with a number of the UK’s top 10 enterprise e-commerce retailers, with more due to go live in January 2024.
“In Asia, delivery companies were built specifically for e-commerce – in Europe and the US, it was the exact opposite, with delivery companies built for a pre-internet world,” said Jonathan Jenssen, co-founder and CEO of Relay. “Relay is bridging the gap between rapidly evolving e-commerce and old-school delivery. Not only are we enabling better delivery in terms of speed and cost for retailers and end-customers, but we are also doubling down on making sure our ecosystem of delivery drivers and the planet benefit.”
For retailers using Relay, deliveries are faster, cheaper, more reliable and reduce carbon emissions by up to 50%. The company’s routing technology matches couriers to routes in real time and is able to combine deliveries and returns in one route. Additionally, end-customers can expect guaranteed next-day delivery and real-time tracking – with over 80% of end-customers getting a service upgrade, from the standard 2-5 day delivery to a next-day service. Local couriers benefit from a more flexible work environment and increased earning potential. Moreover, in accordance with the worker model, they are entitled to sick and holiday pay, as well as other key benefits.
Philipp Werner, Partner at Project A, added: “The parcel delivery landscape remains rooted in the pre-digital era. It’s time for a delivery solution built for the e-commerce age. We believe this can only be achieved by addressing the entire value chain, rather than just innovating the ‘last mile’. Relay’s lean operational model, coupled with the team’s exceptional industry knowledge and technology-centric approach, promises to radically disrupt the status quo in parcel delivery.”
