The ScaleUp Accelerator helped to prepare Gophr with guidance on the Series A fundraising process and make the relevant VC introductions.  The experience within the programme team in understanding how to approach and who to approach, along with the accelerator’s structured approach to tackling the raise continue to prove invaluable for busy founders juggling raising investment alongside running a growing company.  

Gophr's focus on improving delivery performance at the individual courier level, using enhanced package and behavioural data, more efficient routing strategies and gamified incentives, has enabled the startup to scale rapidly and profitably over the course of the pandemic, and as a result, achieving revenue growth of 300% during the last 12 months.

Last-mile delivery has never been more business-critical. Based on ONS figures, Covid-fuelled demand has accelerated sector growth by an estimated 5 years (to £16bn) in just 9 months. And this accelerated demand comes with quality expectations attached, with over half of customers claiming that a poor delivery experience would discourage a repeat order.

As Founder and CEO Seb Robert explains: “With all the hype around drones and autonomous vehicles, people forget - or never really understood - that the delivery business, particularly last-mile, is still a people business. Because better couriers deliver better outcomes our focus has been creating a platform that enables each courier to perform ‘better’.

“And unlike most gig economy businesses that see the self-employed as a commodity to be exploited, for Gophr, they’re the talent and an advantage to be leveraged, and they need to be treated and rewarded as such.”

With nearly 2m parcels delivered for over 5000 clients, some of Gopher’s clients include Hello Fresh, Co-Op, Boots and Amazon, and coverage across all major UK cities.

The investment is earmarked for strengthening the core product through improved UX and client customisation options and driving growth by accelerating the vision of expanding from the smartest same-day courier marketplace to becoming the leading delivery operating system for independent delivery operators.

Commenting on the investment Carles Ferrer, Nauta Capital’s General Partner, said: "As customers, we all have high expectations of last-mile delivery, and yet we barely ever get the experience we want. Missing a delivery, couriers not being able to find your address, inflexible delivery times and slots, all seem outdated in the 21st century. So when we were introduced to Gophr, and saw their courier-first and friendly approach, coupled with their impressive tech and data-driven approach to solving last-mile delivery for clients and customers of all sizes, we knew we had a winner on our hands. We are very excited to join Seb and Krzys on this exciting journey to be able to bring last-mile delivery to you across the whole of the UK and Europe.”

Based in London, Gophr was founded in 2015, by former digital comms exec Seb Robert, in response to a long line of particularly frustrating and unremarkable delivery experiences. He was soon joined by the highly experienced Krzys Worsa as CTO.

Gophr’s fast growth and impact saw them placed #15 on Deloitte's UK Technology Fast 50 rankings.