Hey Deedee, a Mumbai-based startup proclaims to be India’s only all-women last-mile logistics services firm and has raised pre-seed funding of $500,000 (Rs 3.3 crore) from an early-stage investor Metaform Ventures LLC. The startup has been planning to invest the funds mainly to expand its footstep from four cities to 10 cities this fiscal year, it said in a statement. The company has planned to use the money in building technology infrastructure.
Hey Deedee also provides logistics solutions to the e-commerce companies for their last-mile delivery. It was founded by the serial entrepreneur Revathi Roy and Jagdish Gothi in the year 2016 and is operated by Zaffiro Learning Pvt. Ltd, a skilling-for-employment enterprise. Roy had previously founded Forsche, a women’s taxi service.
Mumbai-based Hey Deedee, India′s aboriginal all-women instant parcel delivery service, addresses the requirement for last-mile delivery by employing only women riders and it has also announced its entry into the four-wheeler warehouse-to-hub deliveries sector with women drivers.
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Hey Deedee functions on management percentage model with Ecom Express, a fixed-income model with other clients and per-delivery model with Amazon. Hey Deedee delivers everything right from gifts to grocery, documents, food, and couriers. Hey Deedee claims to have delivered approximately 250,000 parcels till date for its alliance partners those include The Curry Brothers, Amazon, Subway, The Bohri Kitchen, Shophop, Herbivore, Brijwasi, Ecomm Express and Pizza Hut, among others.
The company trains women from less privileged socioeconomic backgrounds to drive two-wheelers and employs them as last-mile delivery executives. It also helps them get two-wheeler loans. The company has more than 2000 registered women, under different stages of training, and has 62 riders on the job across Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur.Roy said the “company aims to train and employ 10,000 women this year, and become the largest solution provider for hyper local companies”.
Hey Deedee, in conjunction with employing women, is also coaching them via a 30-45 day training program. At present, the platform has more than 2,000 registered women, all in different stages of training. The startup has 62 riders on the job, in Mumbai, Bangalore, Nagpur, and Pune.
“We need women at all levels contributing to change the dynamics on reshaping of our economy. An empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and capable beyond description. I chose to back Revathi Roy for her enduring leadership on empowering women in logistics, a fast-growing, and untapped (women powered) sector with much-needed diversity. Hey Deedee continues to break down walls and defy stereotypes; creating a sector for women empowered logistics, not just logistics but heavy logistics.” aforesaid the Founder of Metaform Ventures, Mr. Nilesh Jain.
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