Mayer Group, importers of Volvo and Honda vehicles, and Bar Marketing and Distribution Holding Company are investing $2 million in startup GetPackage, which applies the principle of sharing economy to a national delivery and courier service. GetPackage has raised NIS 16 million to date. Mayer Group and Bar Marketing will each get a 13% stake in the company for their investments. The rest of the company is owned by GetPackage founder and CEO Nir Bengal and private investors.
GetPackage began operating in June 2017, and currently has 25 employees. The company offers immediate delivery services through any vehicle. Bengal says delivery is made within 15 minutes after the order is made. The company monitors every deliveryman and the route he or she takes.
The platform, which operates according to the ideal of a sharing economy, enables any driver to register as a deliveryman. It was founded under the assumption that the delivery sector was undergoing changes as a result of the boom in online shopping. At this stage, 2,500 registered deliverymen are making thousands of deliveries monthly. The question of the drivers' reliability is examined for each registered deliveryman. The drivers are paid 75% of the delivery price through their credit cards. The price is determined according to the size of the package and the length of the journey.
"In deliveries, the supply is greater than the demand, and this trend will increase," Bengal explains. "Work in deliveries is dangerous and not well-paid; drivers work in tough weather conditions for NIS 30-32 an hour. With a per delivery mechanism, they can earn NIS 70-80 an hour."
According to Bengal, the company is now completing the process of setting up infrastructure on the US East Coast, with a database of 7,000 registered deliverymen. "We offer a solution that enables small businesses to compete with the large websites," he says. The company's customers also include restaurants, supermarkets, mobile telephony companies, insurance companies, and banks.
Bengal says that GetPackage is in the stage of completing technological developments that will enable it "to absorb the entire delivery sector in us." The company's new partners were recruited in order to achieve this vision. Bar Marketing and Distribution, controlled by businessperson Ido Bergman, provides hundreds of thousands of deliveries to households and businesses in Israel. Mayer's Cars and Trucks, owned by co-presidents Israel Kass and Jacob Shachar, imports Volvo and Honda vehicles to Israel, is the franchise holder for Hertz in Israel, and owns the Kavim public transportation company. The investment also reflects their belief in the future of the sharing economy, which is gaining support.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 9, 2018
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