Dubai-based logistics startup Quiqup has raised $5.5 million in an investment round led by Delivery Hero, it announced today in a statement to MENAbytes. The round was also joined by Lebanon’s Cedar Mundi, New York-based Jobi Capital, and Transmed.
Quiqup provides on-demand, same-day, and scheduled delivery solutions to retailers (online and offline), and restaurants of all sizes in the United Arab Emirates. The restaurants can book an on-demand courier to deliver food to their customers through Quiqup’s dashboard or API integrations (which could book a courier whenever an order is received). The order is picked-up in 15 minutes and delivered to the customer within 50 minutes.
The online retailers can offer same-day delivery to their customers by integrating Quiqup’s API’s into their websites or apps. They can split the delivery cost with customers. Offline retailers can book same-day deliveries through the dashboard. They also have the option to book scheduled deliveries (including recurring ones) for a later date.
Businesses can track and manage all the orders from the dashboard and their customers can track them live either on the website or app (if they’ve integrated the option into them) or through a link.
Quiqup uses a pay-as-you-go model charging the businesses for every delivered order. It currently has a fleet of over 3,000 couriers that are serving more than 800 businesses using its services.
“The past quarters have already seen favorable trends, accelerating the company’s development and helping to double the size of its business in 2020,” it said in a statement.
The startup had originally started in London and had raised over $35 million before this investment round. It had expanded to the United Arab Emirates in 2017 with its Dubai launch. Quiqup shut down its United Kingdom operations in early 2019 and moved its headquarters to Dubai, its spokesperson told MENAbytes. The startup still has a technology development office in London. Answering one of our questions, they also told us that this latest investment is not a down round.
It is now operating only in the United Arab Emirates and has plans to expand its business all across the GCC. To help with that, it has appointed Aramex’s former COO Iyad Kamal as a strategic advisor.
South Africa Today
Read more at VolaNews
