BECK Technology Ventures launches BECK Friends

Beck Technology Ventures, a start-up that focuses on simplifying global logistics requirements through technology, on Monday announced its latest global peer-to-peer logistics marketplace, Beck FRIENDS.

The platform will not only save the person willing to parcel out the thing from the exorbitant charges of shipment but will also provide an opportunity for the person delivering the package to earn while traveling.

The process is simple. Users add requests in the location providing the details of pickup & delivery along with the package details and the picture of the package to be delivered. The platform’s algorithm then estimates a price based on factors such as the time requested for delivery, the package size and the distance.

Other users can then respond to the request, which delivers a notification to the sender and gives him/her an option to see the Facebook profile of the user interested delivery. Once approved by the sender, numbers are then exchanged through SMS. This ensures privacy as well as establishes the trust for both parties involved.

Users and bringers can sign up with BECK Friends on www.beckfriends.com.

Speaking on the announcement, Deep Malhotra, Co-founder, BECK Technology Ventures, said, “We would like to disrupt the current logistics ecosystem through a habit-changing technology. It is the kind of product that will have an organic growth as it is connecting users for a mutual benefit, and anything that grows organically is a good long term business to be in.”

While peer to peer delivery service is not new globally, which was started by California- based PeerShip last year and soon followed by London-based Nimber and Atlanta-based Roadie, the main challenge lies in the availability of user base. In most cases these services are helping users ship items across a city, region, state or even country but not international, as their marketing efforts are mainly domestic.

With the platform free to use at present, BECK Friends is focusing on creating a critical mass of users in the form of peers, third party courier companies, and truck companies among other partners.

“Indian tech-enabled logistics start-ups attracted a funding of over USD 700 million in 2015. This year is touted to be the year of consolidation, and a product like BECK Friends can be the perfect platform to do so. Consolidating various players, along with peers, will give the user the flexibility to choose the best option according to their requirements,” adds Deep.

BECK’s last launch was an intra-city instant delivery service, BECK Instant Delivery. The services are currently operational in Mumbai and would be launched in other cities shortly.