Internal combustion engines still rule the roost when they first started powering automobiles, but there are signs that they’re slowly fading into obscurity, at least in some markets. Countries such as Sweden, Denmark and the UK plan to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars within a decade, while markets such as Australia and California are moving in that direction, albeit slowly.
Part of this process is making it easier for consumers and businesses to transition to electrification, such as expanding electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, as the US recently announced in its $1 trillion infrastructure bill. But companies need help getting EV fleets up and running — and that’s where a new startup called Papaya is poised to play its part.
Launched by Soft in February, Papaya’s software is designed to help fleet operators source and manage electric or light electric vehicles (LEVs), solving what founder and CEO Santi Uretta says is often “too fragmented and unclear.” And to help take things to the next level, the London-based company announced it has raised $3.5 million from a slew of institutional and angel investors.
For context, there’s no shortage of vehicle management systems, from Automile and FleetCheck to WebFleet, but Papaya hopes to differentiate itself in its niche industry of small EVs that can be used by last-mile delivery companies. And so on. It is about solving very specific pain points, reducing fragmentation and serving as a platform for all to connect and communicate.
“No one is building the tools we’re doing to connect all aspects of the market and also to better manage that connection,” Uretta told TechCrunch.
Uretta and Papaya CTO founder Renato Serrara both have experience working in transport and logistics-critical companies, including European food delivery juggernaut Deliveroo and e-commerce unicorn Gopuff. And this experience proved the genesis of papaya.
“We understand first hand that finding an electric fleet is difficult and managing one effectively is even more difficult,” Uretta said. “Managing hybrid electric fleets with current software tools is impossible to do in one place.”
Moving parts
Among the problems Papaya seeks to solve is the complexity of multimodality – electric fleets require different types of vehicles for different use cases. For example, an e-van may be more suitable for larger grocery deliveries, while a cargo bike or e-bike may be adequate for food deliveries. And for every type of vehicle, there’s a whole host of different suppliers, repair firms and other service providers to keep everything running and in order.
Papaya joins the dots between fleet operators (e.g. Gopuff or Deliveroo) and service providers, which can be vehicle suppliers (e.g. Hop or Otto), maintenance providers (e.g. Fettel or CycleDelic), insurance providers (e.g. Laka or Zego) or even dedicated to housing and charging EVs. Storage locations (such as Reef or Infinium Logistics)
“Each carrier has their outdated systems — Google Forms, spreadsheets, emails or bogged down fleet management tools — and the fleet has to connect to all of these tools to report incidents and maintain availability, which makes it very difficult and inefficient,” Ureta said. . “Papaya is centralizing all of these disparate processes and tools into a single operating system, allowing fleets to have full visibility, accountability and transparency about the status of their vehicles and manage all of their communications in one place.”
Papaya Dashboard
In its original form, Papaya was mostly meant to enable the management of existing EVs and LEVs, but its primary goal is to help companies transition from traditional fossil-fuel-burning vehicles to zero-emission alternatives. That’s why the company is gearing up to launch its Vehicle Marketplace, which will serve as a one-stop shop for fleet operators to purchase EVs and LVs and related services.
“One can see it [the marketplace] “It’s a way for vehicle suppliers and service providers to showcase their products and services to the elite, in the geography they operate in,” said Ureta, adding that he expects the marketplace to launch by the end of the year. “Papaya makes it easier for companies to roll out and manage EVs – which will accelerate the transition from combustion engine fleets to EV fleets.”
Papaya UK is present in five markets including Spain, France, Germany and Estonia. And in its short lifespan so far, the company has amassed an impressive clientele that includes the aforementioned Gopuff (currently valued at $15 billion) and shipping giant Evry.
According to Ureta, Gopuff uses Papaya to connect to all the vehicles in their fleet, track availability and cost, and manage events when they arrive.
“Gopuff uses Papaya as their main vehicle management system – all their vehicles are on board on the platform and their main service providers on the other side,” said Ureta. The platform is used by multiple actors, from drivers to communication operators, flight managers and operations managers.
In developing and managing EVs, like other vehicle management systems, Papaya is all about generating data and gathering insights about everything happening in a fleet at any given time.
Bringing excellence
A quick look at the data shows that Papaya is onto something. The European Commission plans to reduce transport emissions by 90% by 2050, and last-mile logistics is currently responsible for 5% of a company’s supply chain emissions – but with e-commerce only on the rise, this figure could increase. In fact, the World Economic Forum suggests that the number of delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities will increase by 36% by 2030, with traffic emissions increasing.
In short, the world must tackle its emissions problem if it has any hope of meeting ambitious climate goals. At the heart of Papaya’s growth plans is this – the company’s new $3.5 million investment from Giant Ventures, Seedcamp, 20VC, FJ Labs, Flexport, Cocoa, Sir Richard Branson’s family (in particular: Freddie Andrews and Holly Branson, who manages the family fund), Glovo founder Oscar Pierre and former TechCrunch reporter Steve Oher.
The company said it plans to use the cash injection to “build Europe’s largest electric vehicle ecosystem and decarbonize Europe’s fleet.”
