2021 has flown by in a flash (has it been two years since the COVID-19 hit?), and it has certainly been an eventful one for Pickupp.

For starters, we recently raised US$37 million in our Series B funding! This is a testament to the hard work of everyone at Pickupp and also a validation for us that we are moving in the right direction in bringing our innovative logistics solutions to the market.

As the year draws to a close, here are some quick reflections of Pickupp’s 2021 in a nutshell:

Building connections in creative ways

As the pandemic persisted from 2020, 2021 has shown us how important it is to pursue and create connections in unique ways. As a tech startup that has embraced remote working arrangements way before the pandemic, it wasn’t our daily working schedule or productivity that was impacted, but the inability to gather together physically as a team and build connections.

As a growing startup with new members regularly, it has been crucial to support social connections in the workplace and help employees form strong relationships.

In light of that, initiatives were made in the year to create these virtual spaces for interaction, whether it is recreating lunch breaks with virtual happy hours, team bonding sessions with online games and trivia sessions or showing appreciation to one another and celebrating milestones and birthdays through the delivery of notes and care packages.

When social restrictions started to ease with gatherings of up to five allowed, arrangements were made so that each team could catch up at least once a week in person. With a 90 per cent staff retention rate this year, I would say that our approach has been pretty successful!

Growth with new opportunities and responsibilities

2021, although challenging, has created new opportunities for Pickupp. With the acceleration of digital transformation, tech startups like ourselves have a competitive advantage. Additionally, as a logistics company, we saw an unprecedented demand for our services and an increased openness towards adopting our technology.

Being at the forefront of technology also meant that we were responsible for spearheading innovations to meet emerging customer needs. Plans to diversify and expand our services were brought forward to speed up the process of digital adoption for businesses, providing them with the solutions they needed.

This enables them to be nimble, flexible, and agile, which helps them provide a better customer experience and de-bottleneck their peak sales deliveries.

The importance of sustainability

With the e-commerce boom comes the question of sustainability and the ability to deliver quickly and efficiently in Singapore’s crowded and dense geographical areas. The government announced its efforts to transition into a car-lite society in 2021.

This goal of decarbonising our operations and improving the efficiency of deliveries is something we’ve been working towards this year, and the recent support we received from our investors through our Series B funding is timely and will allow us to introduce at least 10 new satellite warehouses across heartland areas in Singapore by mid-2022.

Also Read: A look back at 2021: Digitalisation, innovation and sustainability

The expansion of these service points, which provides pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) services, micro-fulfilment and warehousing, and cross-border services, will drive hyperlocal services and minimise the travelling distance for our agents to support faster and more efficient last-mile deliveries for our customers.

Merchants will also rely on more walkers and bikers to fulfil deliveries within their district, leveraging their mobility and flexibility as they are not affected by traffic conditions and the lack of parking spaces during peak hours.

This results in increased efficiency and costs saved on gas or parking, further contributing to our decarbonising our operations. Approximately 15 per cent of our daily deliveries are being handled by walkers today; we aim to at least double this by next year.

2022 is shaping an even more exciting year for Pickupp, and we cannot wait to get started!

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