Distances no longer serve as a barrier for humans to achieve their dreams, thanks to 24×7 connectivity in most places around the world. But while internet growth has been seamless for the most part in India, the delivery of products and services has been anything but smooth in the Indian context. The seachange in transportation and logistics over the last decade has challenged distances and made the world a much smaller space, even for global tech giants.
Since the sector has had a long presence, there are already unicorns to look up to. The likes of Delhivery, Rivigo, and BlackBuck have set the pace in the Indian market. There lies a wide scope for innovation to serve customers in a more efficient manner. This seems to be the mantra of new-age logistics startups in India.
1. Chariot
The office commute in San Francisco is expensive and time-consuming. Chariot is building better transit routes (by learning commuter habits and preferences) that are faster than public transport and cheaper than taxis or Uber. It crowdsources routes and pickup/drop-off stops by learning home and work addresses from users. Its Chariots (14-passenger vans) use custom technology to route and service customers.
2. Freightwalla
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Mumbai, Freightwalla is a technology-enabled Indian shipping freight forwarder. The startup claims to focus on addressing inconsistent service levels in the B2B international logistics industry by leveraging technology to offer real-time updates, online documentation services, and consistent pricing.
3. ClearMetal
Shipping carriers, freight forwarders, and others in the supply chain struggle to get the right asset at the right place at the right time and make the most optimal trade decisions. ClearMetal generates highly accurate predictions to help the industry solve its most complex challenges, like how to efficiently place ocean containers and plan vessel space.
ClearMetal does this by modeling, predicting, and simulating the movement of every ocean container using Data Science and Machine Learning.
4. Dispatch
Dispatch is building Carry, an autonomous robot with 4 compartments and a weight of 100 pounds, that can automate the last-mile delivery. The robot travels at the pace of pedestrians on sidewalks and bike paths to deliver items.
Consumers can track the robot carrying the delivery, receive a notification when the robot arrives, and unlock it with their phones.
Dispatch has launched pilot programs at Menlo College and CSU Monterey Bay to deliver to students their mail, packages, and other things.
5. Lugg
Lugg makes it effortless to get anything moved. Their mobile app connects a consumer with a truck and two movers. Consumers set up a pickup location, add a photo of the item they want to be moved, and the movers are on the way. The movers reach you within 15–60 minutes, instead of hours.
Lugg picks up from San Francisco, San Mateo, Foster City, Oakland, Fremont, and Hayward but can drop stuff anywhere in the Bay Area.