In Pakistan, Rider is taking a nimble approach to e-commerce logistics. Rider is on a mission to give “Amazon-like” next-day deliveries to online buyers in Pakistan. Y Combinatior, along with new investors i2i, Flexport, Soma Capital, and Rebel Fund, announced that the Karachi-based firm has raised $3.1 million in additional capital.
GFC, Fatima Gobi, and TPL E-ventures, as well as Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi, were among the returning investors. Since September 2021, RIder has raised a total of $5.4 million.
Rider, founded in 2019 by Salman Allana, a former UPS Pakistan executive, is developing a network of sorting hubs, delivery stations, and a computerised fleet. The technology enables vendors to provide next-day delivery to customers with route optimization, real-time tracking, and scheduling.
Monthly revenues have increased by 110 percent and the company’s customer base has doubled to 650 online vendors since its pre-seed financing round in September 2021, according to the company. Rider has delivered 3 million items across 60 Pakistani cities so far. It presently has a network of 16 hubs in 60 locations across Pakistan, accounting for over 60% of the country’s e-commerce demand, according to Allana.
Logistics is a notoriously money-losing industry. Rider’s network of distribution facilities, according to Allana, isn’t quite what you’d expect. Mobile warehouses (or pre-sorted vans), empty mall parking lots, and gas stations are among the alternatives. Rider would want to see delivery centres in kiranas or convenience stores in the future. This means that distribution centres can migrate as high-volume e-commerce zones change.
