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Build Back Better for the Gig Economy with Herb Coakley, ...
Elemental Excelerator
·
Mar 31, 2022
At Elemental, we don't believe in tinkering on the edges, and seek companies passionate about tackling the real meat of a...
Note: This deal is being conducted pursuant to the SEC's temporary relief rules, and therefore has provided self-certified financials instead of reviewed financial statements in compliance with Reg CF Rule 201(bb).
Problem
Gig economy drivers are looking to earn a living with dignity, respect and purpose
They are tired of being overworked and undervalued
- Gamification technologies and lack of transparency lead to stress and burnout
- Workers yearn for real-time support, a sense of community and true partnership
- Most of the 50M on-demand gig couriers no longer trust the market leaders
- The carbon footprint of this many gig drivers is not sustainable without intervention
- These deficits are resulting in high churn rates, leading to overspending in order to recruit and retain workers
Solution
A people-first approach to building a technology company
Technology alone can not curb driver churn—only access to a livable wage and true partnership can.
Democratization of gig work and real partnerships with 24/7 live dispatch service.- Workers keep 80% of delivery fees, have complete offer transparency with 60 seconds to evaluate offers.
- A curated community of gig-workers fostered by healthy, symbiotic relationships.
- Affordable access to electrified vehicles through partnerships & incentives.
- Focus purely on courier and errand services and not e-commerce.
—
Happy gig workers means happy customers, which leads to lower churn on all sides and opens a clear path to profitability.
Product
Winning by empowering
gig workers
A last-mile courier and errands
solution that’s redefining the future of work
- Advanced routing and messaging algorithm built to reduce driver's carbon footprint.
- Higher, transparent, and unrestricted instant pay
- Wait-time and extra effort pay
- Tip matching for PTO
- Higher pay for using electrified vehicles
- Workers set own hourly rate and work area
- Preferred language matching for both users and drivers
- Trusted by gig workers to have their back
Traction
$1,000,000 in revenue to date, and exponential growth
since launch
... without a single sales call
- $150K MRR
- $800 LTV
- 2% Churn
- 100% Referrals & Reverse Inquiries
- 800 Deliveries per week
Courial snapshot
- 20,000 Courials
- 20 US Markets
- 30% On electrified vehicles
- 75% of leads from Courials
Projections based on business model and completion of seed round
*Click here for important information regarding Financial Projections which are not guaranteed.
Customers
Our customers are SMBs, Fortune 500 companies, and consumers...
...looking for a more personal relationship
with their courier and courier service.
SOME KEY CUSTOMERS
Many businesses and consumers prefer to do business with companies who are aligned with their values and focused on sustainability and workers' well being.
Client snapshot
- 40,000 Deliveries
- 1,000 B2B and B2C Customers
Courials are current and former gig workers,
as well as anyone ready to earn a livable wage on their terms
As companies like UPS and Walmart look for last-mile options, demand is expected to grow exponentially, post-pandemic. Americans are deciding to ditch their 9-5 office jobs for the gig economy, so the supply of gig-workers will continue to grow as well.
Customer & Courial acquisition
Our unique approach to acquiring and retaining customers in a double-sided marketplace has proven successful.
Current strategy is driven by the support of our gig-workers, who are our biggest advocates, and strategic influencer partnerships with some of the largest voices in the space.
Social media partnerships
- The Rideshare Guy, Harry Campbell | millions of page views
- Rideshare Professor | hundreds of thousands of page views
Other channels
- Facebook / Instagram | 10%
- Google Ads / Craigslist | 10%
- WOM & incentivized referral program | 80%
CAC to date: $0.91
Lots of love
Business model
Primary business model:
$9.95 base fee and $1.11/mile
Average Order Value of $25
Users pay no surge fees or travel time fees
Courials keep 80% of delivery fees / Company keeps 20%
Additional monetization
Targeted, discrete, in-app advertising and API as a service
Market
Macro tailwinds
as the labor market
rethinks the future of work
- Recent billion-dollar acquisitions prove market leaders cannot match last-mile demand.
- Americans are quitting jobs at a pace not seen in over a century.
- Folks are opting for flexibility, higher pay, and diversity of opportunities.
- Gig economy participation and wages grew by 50% since 2020.
- 85% of gig economy workers hope to continue as gig workers for years.
With a focus on higher earnings, democratization, partnership, and lowering CO2 emissions, Courial is uniquely positioned to capitalize on these market trends and meet demand.
If the Global online on-demand delivery market for food alone is ~$8.0Bn in 2020, growing at 7-year 30% CAGR,* we predict the delivery market for everything including food would be at least 50% higher.
Grubhub’s CEO recently complained that food delivery is not enough to build a sustainable and profitable business. We agree!
As a true courier platform, Courial consolidates all delivery and errand needs on one place.
Competition
Competitive landscape
Vision and strategy
We are raising a $2M seed round to 10x our driver base and B2B partnerships
over the next 24 months.
- Team Building – 50%
- Customer Success – 15%
- Marketing and Advertising – 25%
- Product Development – 10%
Funding
$500k funding to date
$100,000 bootstrapped
$320,000 from Friends and Family on SAFEs
$180,000 from Elemental Excelerator on a Warrant
Founders
Herb Coakley
Founder, CEO and CTO
I'm Herb Coakley, founder, CTO and CEO of Courial, the revolutionary platform for last-mile courier service that actually delivers everything. Built by an on-demand gig-driver for gig-drivers, Courial is rejuvenating the antiquated courier business with on-demand gig-workers and technology infused with human kindness.
I’m the son of Caribbean immigrants, lifelong entrepreneurs, and gig workers. I’m a serial entrepreneur, former physicist, and filmmaker. I have graduate degrees from UCLA and Columbia University, with Howard University as my alma mater. I’m also a self-taught developer and designer, but perhaps most importantly, I'm a former on-demand gig driver with over 20,000 completed gigs driving for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, Caviar and Grub Hub, often at the same time.
At my previous start-up I created technology that allowed seamless app switching for on-demand gig drivers, enabling them to earn much more money while drastically reducing considerably driving. I currently hold the patent for this technology and in our efforts to democratize the space, we will be offering it as a free service to our Courials (our courier partners).
As a former on-demand gig driver, I wanted to take a people first approach to building a technology company. So, I created a healthy and supportive working environment for on-demand gig drivers. We do this by providing live dispatch, higher pay, transparency, optimized routing, true partnership, paid time off supported by tip matching and financial incentives to push our fleet to use only electrified vehicles.
We view every Courial as a valued strategic partner, building their own business, as valued and dear as our big corporate partners. We want everyone to be supremely satisfied. And it's working.
Since launching our MVP a year ago with a small but mighty team, we have grown quickly, onboarding close to 20,000 drivers and thousands of users, seen 25% month over month growth and MRR exceeding $150,000, all with very little marketing. Our Courials have been our biggest advocates, responsible for 75% of our inbound business.
Our competitive edge is the impact we are having on frontline communities (60% of our fleet are people of color), gig-economy work, the reduction of GH gasses and providing a concierge service for our clients while building a community of happy gig workers who are respected, valued, and love the relationship they have with their technology partner.
This summer we're doubling our revenue, jumping from roughly $150k to $300k MRR. In one year we've gone from zero to just over a million in ARR. Next year we aim to go from millions to tens of millions, peek at hundreds of millions.
Come fly high with us for the best return on your investment and a better world.
On-demand gig drivers should be paid better and be able to do their jobs with dignity and respect. Our communities should have clean air. Your investment in us will accelerate the transition to a prosperous, more inclusive, and cleaner world.
