Courier services have virtually always been a staple of cities and downtown business districts. But the process of getting things from Business A to Business B has hardly evolved -- it's still an industry run almost entirely through bicycles, motorcycles, cars and vans.
The innovation to this age-old service is happening behind the scenes in the software, apps, databases and platforms that now coordinate deliveries.
This is where Austin-based Dropoff, founded in 2014, has excelled. Using a newly-activated intelligent dispatch system that can respond and make real-time decisions for dozens of delivery variables, the startup has expanded to seven major U.S. markets and has a goal to be in the 50 largest metro areas in coming years.
Though the tech is complex, B2B same-day deliveries still are still largely judged on speed, versatility and reliability.
"Customers' expectations for speed and service are changing," Dropoff Founder and CEO Sean Spector told me. "Everyone's desire to get things faster is becoming more and more a reality. So, as we expand the business, we look for markets where we think that's applicable."
After launching in Austin and expanding to Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Dropoff has targeted densely-populated cities where they find foundational customers in their primary focus areas -- business services, healthcare, retail and commercial/industrial. Dropoff expanded to Los Angeles in late July, and, this week, it announced it has opened offices in Miami and Fort Lauderdale with three full-time employees and a pool of delivery agents.
Dropoff has raised a little more than $7 million in venture capital from investors including New York-based Greycroft Partners and Austin-based Austin Ventures and Silverton Partners. It has 46 full-time employees, including about 25 in its Austin headquarters.
In addition to the tech back end, which provides real-time tracking and delivery verification, Dropoff has a diverse set of specialized delivery capabilities.
For example, it has temperature-controlled deliveries for food, medical supplies and other sensitive packages and it has delivery agents who are HIPAA certified, giving them flexibility for medical deliveries of all kinds. It can also support different levels in a business, making it easier for large organizations with multiple locations to plan and pay for deliveries.
The company does a lot of catering deliveries, pallets of commercial and industrial supplies, such as printed materials, and even airplane parts for passenger and shipment planes awaiting repair at airports.
"It's not just how we work with the business, it's also what are we delivering for the business that is very different than a cheeseburger to a consumer," Spector said.
