We hope you’re enjoying the holidays. With today’s issue being the last for 2021, we’d like to say thank you. Regardless of when you joined, we’re grateful to have you as a part of the Unicorner community.
 

 

• Currently operates in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Georgia, Kansas, and Missouri, and is partnered with 75 retail stores across the six states
• Raised $4.7 million seed round with investors like Range Ventures, Matchstick Ventures, SpringTime Ventures, and angels like Mark Joseph, Leo Polovets, Jett McCandless, James Eberhard, Andrew Leto, and Sean Henry
• Took part in and backed by Techstars in 2021

 

• Product Manager
• Client Success Associate
• Full Stack Software Engineer
• Business Development Representative
• Supply Chain Associate
• Sales Manager

You’ve likely placed an online order directly from a retail store in the past. While it likely went smoothly, we as consumers don’t know what happens with our deliveries behind the scenes. In reality, facilitating these orders is often a complicated process to optimize. In the case of final mile delivery, or the point in the delivery process when the order is being brought to the customer’s doorstep, independent delivery drivers struggle with balancing quick delivery speeds, optimal cargo space usage, and efficient route planning. In fact, according to Onward’s website, box trucks are driving completely empty 43% of the time—a staggering 2.4 billion cubic feet of cargo space goes to waste every day, creating inefficient deliveries and a significant environmental impact. Onward brings together independent drivers and plans out routes that optimize for deliveries on their paths. All a store (or “shipper”) needs to do is register their order with Onward’s dashboard. A driver (or “carrier”) can then join Onward’s network to help fill up space in their trucks with orders that are on the way. It’s a positive addition for both shippers and carriers and helps the environment with fewer overall drives.