Gurgaon-based Local Delivery Startup Pickingo Picks Up $1.3M

Pickingo is the latest hyperlocal delivery startup in India to get funding. The company, which transports items between merchants and customers in six cities, has raised $1.3 million led by Rehan Yar Khan of Orios Venture Partners with participation from Zishaan Hayath.

Co-founder and CEO Rahul Gill says Pickingo plans to improve its tech platform and expand into new cities (it currently operates in New Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad).

A number of other hyperlocal delivery startups, which appeal to customers who don’t want to face heavily-congested city streets to run errands, have raised funding this year in India.

Many seek to set themselves apart by focusing on a handful of verticals. For example, Zopper delivers bulky items like home appliances, Little focuses on deals, and PepperTap, ZopNow, and Grofers all deliver groceries.

Pickingo, on the other hand, wants to give all local merchants a reliable and affordable on-demand alternative to hiring their own delivery staff. It also takes care of returns, called “reverse pickups,” for e-commerce players like Jabong, Snapdeal, Shopclues and Paytm.

Gill says Pickingo will focus on refining its tech and analytics, which figures out where to allocate delivery staff and vehicles to meet demand in every city. So far, the startup has signed up over 300 local merchants in New Delhi, as well as larger clients like Grofers and Chaayos, a cafe chain. It is currently processing around 700 orders per day in New Delhi and 3,000 orders for reverse pickups in all six of the cities it operates in.