88. Packfleet

Ecommerce Award Winner

For businesses showing evidence of genuine innovation in the competitive ecommerce space to support seamless consumer experience.

Startups 100: Ecommerce Award

Just Started Award Shortlisted

For companies which were started in 2021/22 and have already demonstrated impressive growth, success, or disruption in their field.

Startups 100: Just Started Award

Founders: Hugo Cornejo, Josh Garnham, Tristan Thomas
Founded: 2021
Website: packfleet.com

Nobody wants a world in which you can only buy stuff from Amazon, but independent businesses have so far not been able to compete with the e-commerce megalith.

Largely, this is due to the expensive and unethical delivery services of legacy couriers, which leave city centres grid-locked with half-empty diesel vans, and workers abused by the gig economy.

London-based Packfleet wants to change the narrative. Parking itself alongside industry giants, the startup offers smaller e-commerce merchants a chance to compete with Amazon’s delivery model, with Shopify and WooCommerce integrations available.

Nobody wants a world in which you can only buy stuff from Amazon

Co-founder Hugo Cornejo is enthusiastic about the scale of this opportunity, declaring that Packfleet is “on a mission to empower independent businesses across the UK to offer the best deliveries on earth.”

The company’s sustainability focus is reflected throughout its business operations, with B-Corp certification now pending. The service is totally emission-free, thanks to a fleet of electric vehicles. Conejo declares that Packfleet can even offer cheaper deliveries, thanks to the tech that powers its efficient route-planning.

And, with a genuine sense of care for its full-time employees, Packfleet seeks to stand apart from the gig-economy mindset.

Packfleet seeks to stand apart from the gig-economy mindset.

“​​We’re providing high quality jobs to our drivers and warehouse teams,” says Cornejo. “They’re our employees, and get the same benefits that our engineers do, including private health care cover.”

The future looks exciting for Packfleet and its disruptive delivery model, and its focus on workers’ rights chimes well with the mood of the nation as the recession and cost of living crises are biting.

As for its ability to compete with the almighty Amazon? Cornejo remains bullish. “We’re still a very small company, but we already serve over 100 ecommerce merchants,” he says, “and with 0% churn – they really seem to love our service!”