Investors Back On-Demand Delivery For The Enterprise

With the mobile app and on-demand service market beginning to blossom for B2B, startups are quickly catching on that investors are ready to support their innovations in these spaces.

The latest to snag financial backing is B2B on-demand delivery service Dropoff, which saw backer Greycroft lead a $7 million Series A funding round, according to reports published Wednesday (June 24). The funding, which was also boosted by Correlation Ventures, Wild Basin Investments and Texas Atlantic Capital, will go to support the expansion of the delivery service in Dallas, San Antonio and elsewhere.

According to Dropoff founder Sean Spector, his company operates in a far less crowded market than the massive consumer on-demand delivery space. “This isn’t just pickup and delivery, this is logistics,” he said in an interview with TechCrunch. “There are delivery windows, timing of pickups, proof of delivery signatures required … these are very different challenges than B2C delivery.”

Operating in a space just for businesses means filling a void, Spector added. “Right now, there’s a hole in the market. There really is no national same-day business delivery provider,” he said. “That’s what we want to be.”

The startup offers business access to its delivery services through a Web and mobile app designed with an interface for enterprise. The offering provides companies with price estimates as well as real-time package tracking, reports said, plus an API plugin that is compatible with warehouse databases or eCommerce sites to manage inventory. Corporate clients can have items delivered ranging from groceries for the office to legal documents, reports said.

CVS is one of Dropoff’s largest customers, according to Spector. The pharmaceutical chain uses the startup to deliver medical supplies and medicine across Texas.

The $7 million backing in Dropoff signals investors’ confidence in the expanding B2B on-demand market. A recent panel on the topic held last month at the On-Demand Conference explored the rise in B2B on-demand mobile apps with experts agreeing the space will surely grow. The temporary staff market, for example, has reached a $115 billion valuation, according to reports.