iSabiDeliver, an online on-demand delivery service based in Abuja and Ibadan is ramping up its operations to expand to more cities in Nigeria.
The on-demand delivery platform doing food delivery, parcels, items or errands for both individuals and companies allows users to book a pickup or delivery via an Android or iOS or web app, and get a rider to pick or drop the items at their designated locations using iSabiDeliver’s vetted delivery rider or dispatchers known as Heros.
iSabiDeliver’s Hero’s have either bicycles, motorbikes, cars, trucks, vans, buses as independent suppliers accessible 24hrs a day and 7 days a week. The firm also provides an API Integration for e-commerce sites.
Founded in November 2018 by OmaWorks‘s Ifeoma Benjamin, iSabiDeliver is up in arms against heavily-funded startups such as Kobo360, Max, Gokada, among others. Ifeaoma has had her hands at online ordering and delivery with iSabiFoods. IsabiDeliver is a natural progression from there.
“iSabiDeliver, the market place for delivery agents in Nigeria. Presently live in Abuja and Ibadan, will be going live in more cities in Nigeria,” said Ifeoma in a LinkedIn post. “The aim is to bridge the gap between sellers and buyers while solely focusing on the last-mile and delivering goods within a state. Also of note, we aim to offer multiple modes of transportation, from motorbikes, bicycles, cars to trucks, so as different package sizes can be delivered.”
iSabiDeliver aims to disrupt last-mile delivery in Abuja, Ibadan then expand into other major cities in Nigeria taking competition in the two-wheeler industry a notch higher with players like ORide keen to be a natural cure to traffic jams in Lagos, Nigeria, and in other African cities.
Another player isabiDeliver will face is Nigeria’s Gokada which recently raised $5.3m Series A round to bolster its driver fleet, hire more tech talent and explore new verticals as loans, messaging, payments, insurance among others.
Worth mentioning is Barcelona’s everything delivery startup Glovo which is setting up shop in Nigeria and Ghana, delivery startup Zend which is still in pilot phase, and the recently launched Gozem and SafeMotos. Incumbents Uber and Bolt are also not sleeping.
Peter Ndiang’ui, GoBEBA’s Founder and former OLX Kenya Country Manager said Africa’s growing young population and burgeoning middle class present a huge opportunity for e-commerce and logistics companies but for logistics to gain widespread consumer adoption, the approach needs to be localized better than the current global players in the market.
OmaWorks sees a huge opportunity for iSabiDeliver in Nigeria due to the growth of e-commerce in the country led by platforms such as Jumia, Konga, Supermart, Mart among others. The eCommerce platforms have build trust in more Nigerians leading to increased adoption of online payments and instant delivery services via mobile apps. The accessibility of affordable smartphones, Africas growing startup scene and the penetration of the Internet in Nigeria as a key enabler.
“Given the continuous rapid growth of online shopping, e-commerce, instant delivery services, aging infrastructures, and non-automated dispatch fleets, logistics particularly last-mile delivery are at a turning point. Today more than ever, it is essential to rethink our approach to last-mile deliveries in order to meet the societal and environmental challenges of tomorrow,” added the firm.
The platform is open to anyone. To become an isabiHero, one requires to have a bike or vehicle, and of course, a reliable smartphone as all pickups must go through the app for safety and payment verification. An iSabiHero must have a car, truck, motorcycle or bicycle, must be 20 or older, have a valid driving license and National ID card. A hero must have an Android4.1 + (Jelly Bean) or iOS smartphone and must fill in the guarantor’s form.
iSabiDeliver’s charges per kilometer covered but starts at N300 and at the moment has over 1000 registered users and over 20 businesses using the platform.