Delivery management platform Package.ai raises $14M for ‘Uber-like’ customer experience – SiliconANGLE

Package.ai, a platform that provides artificial intelligence-based delivery for retail operations and customer service, said today it has raised $14 million in a early-stage funding round led by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Founded in 2017 in Tel Aviv, Package.ai delivers what it calls the “full package” for retail operations using AI-enabled tools by combining high-touch customer engagement and an “Uber-like” delivery experience. The company says that its platform works especially well for furnishing retailers and service providers that normally rely on legacy systems that ordinarily rely on fulfillment, customer service, and logistics in separate departments.

Using generative AI, the same technology underpinning OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and last-mile intelligence, along with customer data, Package.ai helps businesses improve the efficiency of routing while also making sure that customers are not left in the dark when deliveries are happening.

“The tech and retail industry is evolving from point solutions for last-mile management and customer engagement to a unified and specialized AI platform,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Ziv Fass. “This paradigm shift enables our customers to break the tradeoff between logistical efficiency and a quality customer experience to generate significant gains in customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

On the delivery side, Package.ai automates delivery systems that optimize routes, track orders in real time, provide buffer times for confirmations, and work with customers with last-mile operations.

On the customer side, the service uses a generative AI chatbot that actually reaches out to customers like a service representative, working with them on package scheduling instead of simply telling them what window to expect the delivery.

As anyone who has ever had a table or appliance delivered, it can be an entire afternoon of waiting between noon and 6 p.m. Instead, the generative AI bot holds an actual conversation about the best window ahead of time and when the day gets closer contacts the customer to make sure they’ll be available when the driver arrives.

Package.ai says this level of engagement is needed in a world where many users are getting used to apps that show packages on a map or tell them how many stops away it is. This is particularly influenced by what the company dubbed the “Amazon Effect,” a phenomenon that has set new standards in delivery speed and convenience for small and medium-sized packages. However, larger items such as furniture and appliances come with several associated challenges such as being huge and heavy, requiring special handling or installation.  

The extra AI engagement increases the number of confirmations, which lowers the failure rates, the company added, dropping them from 8% to 2%. The AI management also frees drivers from having to call ahead so that they can attend to their route.

The company said it intends to use the Series A funding to expand its base of retail customers across North America. Package.ai currently works with big-box retail outlets including Ashley DSG, Big Sand Home Furnishings, Bob Mills and Yale Appliance.

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