Why We Invest: OneRail
An overdue sharing of our thesis and investment in OneRail that we co-led in November 2022.
2022 Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day ever on record. Consumers spent $11.3 billion online — a 5.8% increase over last year, according to the latest Adobe Analytics figures. This is great news for retailers, but what about the economic and environmental costs of all those deliveries? On Cyber Monday and every day, online commerce companies face substantial logistics inefficiencies, especially with last-mile delivery, which typically involves multiple stops with small drop sizes.
The final mile accounts for a substantial amount of a shipment’s total cost — in fact, it’s the costliest leg of the supply chain. According to Insider Intelligence, final mile costs add up to as much as 53% of an entire shipment. And, with the big e-commerce retailers becoming more competitive every day by offering same- or one-day delivery, other businesses must keep up. Without a solution to guarantee speedy, quality last-mile delivery, businesses can’t succeed in the market.
Last-Mile Efficiency for All Businesses
But what if there was a final-mile logistics solution for companies that don’t have the resources of Amazon, one that could be integrated with a company’s current transportation management software? With ample courier capacity and delivery visibility, the software could help small to medium businesses deliver a superb customer experience, all while reducing carbon emissions.
At Piva, we identify visionary companies that are addressing the world’s most critical problems. This includes solving the immense delivery challenges exacerbated by the pandemic’s supply-chain issues and labor shortages, enabling small and medium businesses to compete with e-commerce giants. We also saw the need to reduce environmental damage by making last-mile delivery less carbon-intensive. This is why we were thrilled to co-lead the $33 million Series B funding round in digital logistics supply chain company, OneRail.
Real-time visibility, every step of the journey
There are multiple reasons why we were so excited to invest in OneRail. The company is making industries safer, cheaper, cleaner — and more profitable.
The company is well positioned with its “API (application programming interface) -first” platform. It can be directly integrated with a company’s existing transportation management system to create a real-time connection and visibility across an entire supply chain. With more than 7.5 million drivers, 250 carriers and 65 carrier partners all within one platform, OneRail has all the resources companies need to keep up with demand.
OneRail offers an essential human element, too: a 24/7 USA-based team of skilled customer experience agents available to handle shipping delays or other roadblocks — known in the industry as exceptions — to keep end customers happy without them ever knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. The company uses real-time visibility to power a dynamic ETA as couriers are in transit, creating trust and predictability between businesses and consumers. If a problem arises, the OneRail exceptions management team responds immediately, proactively working to keep customers happy and staying service-level agreement (SLA)-compliant.
In addition, OneRail uses a fast, intelligent courier matching API that minimizes costs and increases delivery speed. By tapping into historical data, the platform considers past delivery experiences before assigning the best lowest-priced courier in any given market who can meet the desired delivery speed. The OneRail platform will enable businesses to “productize” last-mile delivery even further through capabilities such as allowing end customers to choose deliveries via EVs at a slightly higher cost to cut emissions.
A winning team
We are constantly impressed by the OneRail leadership team. My Kauffman Fellow classmate, Ty Findley, introduced us to Bill Catania. Bill is one of the most hardworking, humble founders we have ever worked with. He says what he’s going to do, and he does it. Despite fierce competition in this crowded space, Bill and his entire responsive, creative team continue to drive exceptional company growth. The team is outstanding and customers are very happy — a major reason why OneRail debuted at №48 on the Inc. 5000 list.
Says Mike Palmer, owner of Premier Pet Supply about his experience with OneRail, “Yes, we considered the options. Rather than limiting ourselves to some gig economy services, we knew that we wanted a massively scalable and invest-conscious solution, which we found in OneRail.”
Parting thoughts
We’re proud to back Bill and his team at OneRail, a company that is disrupting the supply chain with technology, enabling more seamless, efficient delivery, addressing resource and labor shortages, and optimizing existing infrastructure and fleets.
Last mile, delivered!
