Traditional parcel transportation is failing to achieve environmental standards, while customer demands for high-quality deliveries are increasing. The increasing parcel volume caused by e-commerce — 5.4B parcels were transported yearly in the United Kingdom alone in 2021 — necessitates emission-free and dependable solutions.
HIVED, a London-based startup, addresses that demand and claims to bring changes to the logistics business by developing a streamlined, simple, and dependable parcel delivery network driven completely by an electric fleet.
Now the startup has raised £10M in Series A funding led by Planet A Ventures with participation from existing investors, including Maersk Growth, Pale blue dot and Eka Ventures. HIVED claims to have witnessed 30% month-over-month revenue growth since its debut and has previously secured approximately £1.74M in early funding.
Using tech for seamless delivery
Further, the startup claims that it is using a technology stack, novel in-house routing engine and unique consumer-facing UI to deliver seamlessly. It also includes a delivery window ETA, live tracking, in-flight redirect options, customisable customer communications and merchant dashboards with carbon-saving reporting.
Murvah Iqbal and Mathias Krieger, co-founders of HIVED, met on a university trip to Silicon Valley and earlier co-founded Vanvas, a London-based van advertising firm. They founded HIVED in 2021 and were named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe for Technology list this year.
HIVED enables users to provide delivery services to individuals and companies. It offers same-day, next-day, and two-day delivery services. It also allows consumers to book and track packages in real time. The software allows senders to create manual deliveries, print labels, and track shipments.
Murvah Iqbal, the co-founder of HIVED, shared: “Our mission at HIVED is to decarbonise the logistics industry while setting a new standard for delivery quality. In an industry that has historically failed customers and the planet, we see the incredible need for HIVED’s solution and are rising to that opportunity, building a parcel delivery service that consumers genuinely enjoy and merchants can trust”.
According to Mathias Krieger, the other co-founder, “This round of funding will enable us to scale HIVED as a truly mass-market, sustainable delivery network. From our point of view, parcel delivery is ripe for disruption and HIVED is the clear solution. We look forward to using this round of funding to build the network out across the UK so that more retailers and consumers can decarbonise their deliveries and benefit from a high-quality delivery experience”.
Nick de la Forge, Partner at Planet A, added, “Globally, transport is expected to be one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions until 2050. With their commitment to sustainability and use of electric vehicles, HIVED is not only transforming parcel delivery but also helping to create a more environmentally friendly future. We are thrilled to be investing in HIVED, a company that is leading the charge in revolutionising sustainable logistics”.
