The Data Layer for Last Mile Mobility

Enabling a multi trillion dollar global opportunity

Hello from Las Vegas, ahead of the Journal of Commerce Logisticstech Conference. I had the good fortune of spending time with several founders this past week in San Francisco at Techstars #FounderCon and a variety of conversations had me thinking about the technology layer in last mile environments and specifically, real-time, on-the-ground data. So this week, as carriers finish preparations for peak holiday season be it related to sort facilities or delivery networks, this seems worthwhile to discuss.

Last mile is a big hairy problem — in the US alone, think of the 2B+ parking spots, 3M+ miles of road are non-highway, 300K+ intersections, 12B+ parcels delivered/year, and the current rise of micromobility startups speaks for itself. While a local can make it seem simple to move from point A to point B in a small city like Chattanooga, the concrete jungle of New York, or the hustle and bustle of Chennai, the world is seeking a system for efficient point-to-point mobility. The particulars are often hard to capture, difficult to keep up to date, nuance is often in the head of a citizen, and the necessary inputs are seldom complete.

Consider a simple parcel delivery: optimal route, order of drops, vehicle form factor, road conditions, traffic, weather, closures/obstructions, neighborhood safety, optimal pick up/drop off point (front door or back), appropriate parking/delivery zones, dedicated lanes (bike lanes) vs shared lanes (conventional roadways), etc. You get the point — there’s a lot that goes into the dynamic decision making of effectuation get last mile mobility. Despite the startups that have sprung up (many who are great), the opportunity is still large, underserved, and without a clear winner. The $2T+ market opportunity across last mile alone won’t be unlocked without relevant data and associated actionable insights.

The data layer and associated infrastructure software is a necessary layer as we think about seamless multi-modal transportation, efficient parcel delivery, and a utopian smart city environment. I suspect that winners will be mindful of a 3 key areas in terms of product and business model: scalable data capture and on-going updates, multi-stakeholder integration (I have routing and you have safety, let’s work together), and monetization strategies similar to software infrastructure companies (to avoid a slow ramp and earn while gaining immense value). We would love to chat with startups working on providing intelligence in such last mile environments.

Originally from Issue 41 of the Dynamo Dispatch.

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