URB-E Raises Series A to Bring Containerized Deliveries to the Last Mile Announces Facebook, Apple Exec as CEO

LOS ANGELES, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- URB-E, the compact container delivery network that's replacing trucks with bikes, today announces that it has raised a $5 million Series A round led by UBS Group.

In addition, entrepreneur Charles Jolley, whose last two companies were bought by Facebook, joins the company as its new Chief Executive Officer. URB-E will use the funding to further scale its local delivery networks to meet demand from its existing clients, as well as from cities looking to reduce traffic and emissions by moving to a containerized delivery solution.

URB-E's bicycle-powered, collapsible containers are commonplace around New York, enabling fast, clean last-mile delivery for major retailers. URB-E's roll-on-roll-off containers replace an entire delivery van, reducing emissions by 100% and increasing delivery efficiency by 2-3 times.

The containers, designed by ex-Porsche and Fisker engineer Sven Etzelsberger, save a massive amount of space in crowded urban environments, with 20 folded containers fitting into a single parking space.

"Existing delivery solutions focus on putting more vehicles on the roads of our cities.URB-E is learning from the shipping world and containerizing to make pedal power more efficient than trucks," said Sven Etzelsberger, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at URB-E. "URB-E's containers are better for couriers, companies, traffic, parking, and the environment."

URB-E, through partnerships with major online retailers and logistics companies, has already deployed a fleet of pedal-powered container systems, with over 1,800 containers moving over 100,000 packages in New York City.

"Charles brings the leadership expertise needed to grow and scale URB-E as a technology-driven local delivery network leader. We're excited to have him on board as we transform last-mile delivery for our partners across America," added Peter Lee, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at URB-E.

"From the start, I saw URB-E's potential to completely change how we think about local delivery," said Charles Jolley, the company's newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer. "On average, customers are moving from one package a week to one or two a day, and more delivery trucks — even electric vehicles at five times the cost of our solution — clearly aren't the right solution. Our network-based solution shrinks down containers and logistics for congested spaces to provide the most efficient option to meet the huge growth in last-mile delivery."

Mr. Jolley originally invested in URB-E, then saw the surge in interest as delivery exploded due to the pandemic. He previously served as co-founder and CEO of Ozlo and Strobe, both of which were acquired by Facebook. He led both Platform and Android products while at Facebook and helped launch iCloud at Apple, having previously co-founded Sprout, which developed technology that was adopted by Apple.

About URB-E
URB-E is containerizing last-mile delivery to help make our cities run better. The containers save a massive amount of space in crowded urban centers and can be moved through city streets more quickly and economically, and with less environmental impact, than other alternatives.

URB-E has some of the world's largest retailers and ecommerce companies as its clients. The  venture-funded company is backed by UBS Group and headquartered in Los Angeles.

For more information, please visit urb-e.com.

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SOURCE URB-E

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