On Tuesday, PICKUP, a last-mile delivery solution, announced it has raised $15 million in a Series B funding round and will use the money for expansion and a focus on the service experience.
The round was led by NewRoad Capital, including existing investors TDF Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners and Florida Funders. New investors Autotech Ventures and the New York Angels joined the round as well. The company has raised a total of $26 million.
PICKUP Enterprise, the company’s integrated API solution, allows commercial businesses and national retailers, like Big Lots and American Standard, to offer same-day delivery of goods, specifically large and high-value items that most delivery services currently turn away. This delivery includes white-glove service, an inside delivery and assembly of items from the company’s Good Guy network of handlers.
Retailer partners of PICKUP can offer delivery on any item in their stores knowing that the company’s Good Guys or one of its courier partners, like Postmates, will handle all aspects of delivery, including returns.
In an interview with FreightWaves, founder and Chief Good Guy Brenda Stoner explained that one major issue with these types of deliveries is having a stranger come into your home and how that affects the consumer’s buying habits when it comes to large bulky items.
“I became passionate about the problem of who you are bringing in your house. Putting trust into that situation became paramount as I designed the business,” she said. “It was a human problem, and we solved it with humans enabled with the best technology we can find.”
PICKUP’s Good Guys must go through a background check, have a valid license, insurance, vehicle registration and inspection, allowing the company to offer a safe and trusted delivery for customers. The Good Guys can choose what jobs they can take and get to keep 100% of any tips they make during delivery.
“The top 15% of Guys do the majority of the work and they are on every day. They have made a career choice and it is enough pay to sustain whatever it is they need from a financial perspective,” explained Stoner. “If you can do that, you have control and consistency, which is key to the business. The only way that works is if you get the right guys at the other end of the app.”
The company’s network helps retailers increase revenue as well. Customers have reported a 2X increase of online basket sizes along with a 23% conversion lift as the PICKUP integration allows purchasers to buy what they need without having to question how they are going to move that good into their home.
Tracy Black, an operating partner of NewRoad Capital who recently joined PICKUP’s board of directors, explained to FreightWaves how important this is for retailers moving forward.
“What is really attractive is the technology platform that enables the retailer to do a full assortment of products,” she said. “Integrating with enterprise order management systems, you are able to meet that retailer wherever they are in their omnichannel journey.”
Stoner described the change in buying habits.
“Now you can turn the couch, the mattress or the tires into an impulse item,” she said. “Plus we are solving their other problem, the return process. The point-to-point model that we have can fix the reserve problem too.”
PICKUP is currently in 75 cities within the U.S. and partners with a number of big brand stores. With its new funds, the company is looking to expand into more networks, including California and Canada, but it primarily will focus on creating an even better service experience.
“We have the footprint we want,” said Stoner. “Now it is how we do more and better, which is in technology and operations.”
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