Orderin, South Africa’s only pure Delivery-as-a-Service (DaaS) firm with 100 per cent unique technology, recently secured a pre-series B fundraising round for $4.7 million (R70 million). The money will help the company expand its infrastructure and improve last-mile delivery, which is still a problem for many firms, especially small and medium-sized ones (SMMEs).
Between 2018 and October 2021, the company raised R6.5 million in pre-seed fundraising, R38.5 million in seed funding, and R285 million in operational capital, bringing the total amount invested to R303 million. This comes on top of the delivery network’s largest fundraising round, which garnered R102 million in 2020. Since the inception of Orderin in 2013, Dr Lutz Mieschke, owner of Mieschke Investments in Switzerland, has been one of the key investors among 25 investors.
“Over the previous few years, e-commerce has been slowly increasing, but the Covid-19 epidemic has dramatically accelerated this rise.” Customers want businesses to provide simple, rapid, and sometimes even free delivery choices,” says Thembani Biyam, CEO of Orderin. “Promoting infrastructure expansion and development would not only boost last-mile distribution but also make it more accessible to enterprises.” This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses, who may find it difficult to compete with giant corporations on this front, but who may also usher in a new era of e-commerce.”
South Africa’s internet shopping sector has more than quadrupled in the two years after the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a recent analysis by World Wide Worx. E-commerce sales reached R30.2 billion in 2020, up 66 per cent from the previous year, and are expected to cross R40 billion in 2021. When it comes to last-mile delivery, emerging technologies, according to Biyam, are playing a critical role in helping businesses to satisfy this high customer demand. “Due to challenges such as unpredictable timelines, the need to make multiple stops with only a small number of parcels being dropped off at each destination, congested traffic, and more, businesses often have to deal with costly and inefficient last-mile delivery,” says Vulnavia Gura, Orderin’s Head of Finance.
“Digital technologies like Artificial Intelligence and data science can help with last-mile delivery by determining the best routes to avoid traffic, making the most economical use of fuel, and even forecasting demand and labour requirements. These technologies are critical in creating dynamic predictive models that allow our clients to avoid these obstacles at the pace required for successful delivery. It is, however, expensive. As our clients and sales expand, the funds we seek will allow us to scale our personnel, technology, and product.”
According to Biyam, the funding will help Orderin scale its proprietary DaaS technology with its current client base in the short term, launch DaaS for SMMEs in the medium term, and create a flywheel for its long-term goal of providing a platform for all types of businesses to gain access to a variety of affordable eLogistics services to help them stay competitive and grow their businesses.
Orderin employs 120 individuals and has generated delivery possibilities for a further 2000 employees. It now provides delivery services for McDonalds and Pick n Pay, one of South Africa’s leading grocery chains. Orderin will be able to increase its staff to 200 people and extend its delivery platform and delivery partners to 3000.
“We’re making rapid progress in maturing our operational and governance frameworks because our investors and stakeholders expect it.” We feel that as a fledgling firm entrusted with the capital of investors, we must establish a reputation for caution. “Future funders will be more confident as a result,” Gura says.
“A lot of the worldwide DaaS systems just didn’t give the depth and flexibility necessary to deliver services in sync with our aim to allow best-in-class online fulfilment locally and regionally,” Gura says. “Over the years, we’ve worked with a variety of partners, some of whom have invested, some as product development partners, and yet others in pilot initiatives. As a growing company, generating value for all of our partners and clients is a delicate balancing act, but I am certain that our dedication to doing so is what drives our success.”
