Deliv is announcing the acquisition of another same-day delivery service, Zipments.
Headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., Deliv works with retailers like Best Buy and Macy’s, as well as startups like BloomThat and Laundry Locker, to offer delivery through a network of independent contractors. Founder and CEO Daphne Carmeli said this allows retailers to move into same-day delivery and stay competitive in an online world without having to build out their own delivery service.
“We’re not a consumer site, so I will never compete with my clients, and I will never monetize the data of my clients,” she added.
This also helps Deliv avoid some of the complications of building a marketplace business, because it can focus on building up the delivery infrastructure, while the partner businesses worry about consumer demand. As Carmeli put it, “I’m not in the demand creation business, I’m in the supply creation business.”
The company recently launched in New York City, and by acquiring Zipments, Deliv can tap into the NYC-based startup’s driver network and its customer relationships, including startups Casper, Handy and Plated.
The financial terms were not disclosed. (Zipments raised a $2.25 million seed round led by FirstMark Capital and Huron River Ventures.) The Zipments team, including founder and CEO Garrick Pohl, will be joining Deliv.
Adding more customers is particularly advantageous given the Deliv model, which is less focused on immediate delivery, and more on allowing customers to pick a time that’s convenient for them. So Deliv can do more advanced planning and include more deliveries on a given trip. The bottom line, Carmeli said, is that more customers makes the model more profitable, so thanks to the Zipments acquisition, Deliv is already profitable in New York.
Deliv is now available in 17 markets. It acquired WeDeliver to accelerate its Chicago expansion earlier this year, and Carmeli said she’s open to similar deals in the future.