- Orderin has raised US$4.7 million pre-Series B funding
- The funding will help the company scale infrastructure and enhance last-mile delivery service
- Cash raised in this latest round of funding brings the company’s total investment to US$19.85 million
South African B2B delivery-as-a-service (DaaS) startup Orderin has raised US$4.7 million pre-Series B funding to help it scale infrastructure and enhance last-mile delivery service.
“Driving the growth and development of infrastructure will not only improve last-mile delivery and make it more accessible for businesses. This applies especially to SMEs who can find it difficult to compete with larger enterprises on this point, but can also usher in a new future of e-commerce,” Orderin CEO Thembani Biyam said.
Cash raised in this latest round of funding brings the company’s total investment to US$19.85 million after previous rounds between 2018 and 2021.
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The startup will use the fresh round of funding to scale its proprietary DaaS technology with its current client base in the short term, launch DaaS for SMEs in the medium term, and establish a flywheel for its long-term goal of providing a platform for all types of businesses to get access to a variety of affordable e-logistics services.
“E-commerce has been growing steadily over the last few years but the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated this growth. Customer expectations have placed a demand on businesses for easy, quick and sometimes even free delivery options,” Biyam said.
He added that emerging technologies have played a huge role in enabling businesses to meet increasing consumer demand when it comes to last-mile delivery.
Orderin’s head of finance Vulnavia Gura noted that technology such as AI and data science are key areas in which the firm is set to accelerate the development of its capacities.
“These technologies play a crucial role in enabling dynamic predictive models which permit our customers to circumvent these challenges at the speed needed for successful delivery. However, it is costly. The funding we raise allows us to scale our talent, tech and offering as we grow our customers and revenue,” Gura said.
However, in 2020, Orderin officially shut down its consumer business. The brand relaunched last year as a B2B service, following successful projects helping other businesses develop their own delivery services.
The firm has provided delivery services for the likes of McDonalds and Pick n Pay.
“We are moving quickly to mature our operational and governance models — our investors demand it and our stakeholders expect it. We believe that as a young company entrusted with investors’ funds we should create a reputation for prudence. This will engender confidence in future funders,” Gura stated.
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