The Last-Mile Delivery market report by Brand Essence Market Research estimates this segment to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% between 2021 to 2027. Going by the estimates, the global last-mile delivery market would reach a size of approximately USD 200 billion in 2027. Bringing the perspective to India, the last-mile delivery market is growing at a rapid pace mostly driven by the boom in e-commerce during the COVID period. However, this critical part of the entire supply-chain process harms the urban environment, which is air pollution. To become more environmentally sustainable, electric vehicles (EVs) are fast becoming a preferred choice for the last-mile delivery providers. One such company that is bringing this ‘green’ change in last-mile delivery is EVIFY Logitech Pvt Ltd.
Evify Logitech is India’s first logistics startup that aims to have a carbon-negative fleet. Based out of Surat, Evify is looking ahead to develop its platform more extensively by adding Geo-fencing, customized BMS, telematics, client insights, and driver fleet management. We had the opportunity to interact with Devrishi Arrora and Pragya Mittal – the founders of EVIFY Logitech Pvt Ltd, who discussed their company’s mission and its growth plan for the coming years. Here’s an excerpt from the interaction.
Please tell us about the inception story of EVIFY?
The concept for EVIFY was based on the fact that the logistics sector was on an all-time boom. Post lock-down the behavior of the general masses has changed, and online deliveries have become a daily necessity in every household. But, the sector has been unorganized for ages and there was a lot of potentials to tap into this sector. One of the founders of the company comes from the logistics sector and another partner has been in green industries for a decade. Therefore, EVIFY was yet another addition to their green businesses portfolio. Thus, the plan to create a tech-enabled platform to provide logistics services was the prime idea behind the inception of this company.
What are the major opportunities for you in the last-mile delivery market?
Going green is not only the need of the hour, it also helps bring down freight overall cost. Associating with an environmentally responsible start-up like ours will give any business an edge in terms of reducing their carbon footprint and passing on the economic benefit to their customers. We provide manpower (delivery personnel) along with transportation service – making client’s life easier and more productive. Working mainly in intra-city, first-mile, mid-mile, and the last-mile logistics segments, Evify will be using only Electric Vehicles and will provide manpower to fulfill transport orders.
The EVs are not only environment-friendly but profitable too in comparison to fuel-run vehicles. The lower costs of ownership and operating costs have made EVs an attractive proposition for intra-city logistics. By using EVs, a business would be able to reduce the tailpipe emissions, thereby reducing environmental impact. Thus, for last-mile logistics EVs are a win-win situation.
What are the USPs of using the EVIFY platform?
EVIFY aims to provide green logistics-based end-to-end services to all the e-commerce giants in the country. The company has invested a lot of time and energy in developing a full-stack tech-enabled platform that can give us information on battery analytics, driver fleet analytics, vehicle performance analytics, client-server analytics, and much more. The company is also performing R&D on manufacturing in-house batteries with smart BMS devices that will help them to get data from the battery, and thus, help in taking prevention steps to avoid accidents. The company has planned to install smart charging points in all the prime locations of the city to create a charging infrastructure for its fleet to reduce the range anxiety and increase the performance of its fleet.
What is your plan for 2022-23?
Our plan for the current year is to establish our grounds in Surat and capture a major portion of the market. Simultaneously, we are focused on developing our SOPs and team-building process. In the coming year, we are planning to expand operations in the neighboring cities of Surat such as Vadodara, Valsad, Bharuch, and Rajkot. Along with our two-wheeler and three-wheeler fleets, we are looking forward to setting up our Smart Charging points in every city we expand. We are also targeting to develop our platform by adding geo-fencing, customized BMS, telematics, client insights, and driver and fleet management.
