Senpex Technology is an AI-driven logistics platform streamlining last-mile deliveries for various industries (e-commerce, B2B distribution Centers, Retail, Food, etc.), offering optimized routing and timely delivery services for businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Senpex Technology Co-Founder Anar Mammadov to learn more about the company.
Anar Mammadov’s Background
Mammadov has nearly two decades of experience working in the enterprise software and logistics industries. And Mammadov said:
“I started my career in Europe, where I worked primarily with large companies involved in governmental, supply chain, logistics and educational software projects. I moved to the US to launch my own business because I believed the US business landscape was more friendly to startups. With Senpex, the business I co-founded in the US seven years ago, I am focused on providing technology-driven solutions for the last-mile logistics & supply chain industry.”
Formation Of Senpex
How did the idea for the company come together? Mammadov shared:
“My partners and I initially focused on developing large-scale supply chain delivery solutions, but eventually, we saw the need for a better business model in the last-mile delivery space. We saw that pricing was really high and unregulated. Businesses could basically charge whatever they wanted to manage last-mile delivery without justifying the costs. We believed that a company that provided excellent service — along with transparency in pricing — would thrive. We launched Senpex with that vision, and we have seen it be successful so far.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Mammadov’s favorite memory working for Senpex so far? Mammadov reflected:
“We had only been in business for a year or two when we made a proposal to Stanford Medicine to provide delivery services for them. FedEx was one of our competitors for the contract, and I expected them to win the business because the pricing they were offering was much lower than ours. However, the team from Stanford came to our offices, heard our presentation, and chose us.”
“It was a proud moment for me and the company. We had proven that our approach to logistics and the quality of our technology and service were not only the best available, but also something that companies were willing to pay more for. I was also proud to know that I — an immigrant businessman — had earned the trust of the professors and other leaders at Stanford Medicine.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Mammadov explained:
“We provide Delivery as a Service (DaaS) through our Senpex Last Mile and Senpex Nationwide products, which also include commercial moving services. With Senpex Nationwide, we are able to provide up to 51 percent savings on shipping with leading national carriers. Our ability to manage a substantial volume of shipments allows us to offer a more affordable option for those with nationwide shipping needs.”
“We also provide Software as a Service (SaaS) through our Senpex API, which empowers companies to integrate our proven logistics capabilities with 56 different e-commerce marketplaces and platforms, including Shopify and WooCommerce.”
“Over the next 12 months, we will add two new core services. The first is autonomous electric vehicle integration products, which will give our clients the opportunity to leverage autonomous courier robot vehicles. We are also launching a consulting service that will provide last-mile delivery audits for organizations. We see this as a way to help businesses, as well as the last-mile logistics industry at large, develop best practices that can be used to optimize deliveries.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Mammadov faced in building the company, and has the current macroeconomic climate affected your company? Mammadov acknowledged:
“One of the biggest challenges you face as a technology-driven company is taking the risk of investing in tech innovations when you aren’t sure they will be embraced. We try to minimize the risk through research, data analysis, and customer feedback, but there is always that chance that in the end the new product or service will bomb.”
“An example of this from our journey at Senpex was the idea we had for a small feature that would allow those using our system to create delivery requests that would be repeated regularly. It was a small button on the dashboard that added a simple functionality, but it has become one of our most popular features and brings in a lot of revenue for the company.”
“We had no idea if the work we put into developing the functionality would pan out, but we committed to it and took the risk. I think of it as being pushy with your ideas. It may require a little tweaking, but if you don’t get discouraged, take a risk, and proceed, you can develop innovations that drive your success.”
Evolution Of Senpex’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Mammadov noted:
“We have been a technology-driven company from the beginning, using tools like artificial intelligence for route mapping and APIs for integration. As we have evolved, however, we’ve always looked for new ways to use technology to drive automation.”
“We have been able to scale the company to the size it is today — offering delivery services in 38 states — by finding ways to automate our process. For example, automation plays a huge role in our dispatching. We have five people managing our dispatches, while our competitors who manage the same volume of deliveries need 20 to 30 dispatch staff. Our evolution has definitely involved bringing in technology to assist with automation.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Mammadov cited:
“Senpex hit some significant milestones during 2023, including expanding to provide service to 38 states. In fact, we expanded from 10 states to 38 states in less than 90 days because of the innovative technology solutions we have been developing. Our new delivery footprint includes 669 US cities, including Honolulu, Hawaii, and we are on track to be nationwide by the end of the year.”
“We also pushed our monthly delivery stops to nearly 30,000 during the second quarter of 2023, which marks a more than 157 percent increase over our first quarter volume. We surpassed 50,000 drivers in our driver base during the second quarter of 2023, growing by more than 17 times the number we had during the first quarter to more than 51,000 drivers. We also surpassed 3,500 active monthly independent delivery partners in the second quarter, which is a 500 percent increase over the previous quarter’s numbers.”
“We also hit some significant order milestones during the first two quarters of 2023. Our orders topped 228,000 during that period, with 151,000 being initiatives via our API and 77,000 coming from our web interface.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Mammadov about customer success stories, he cited:
“There are a number of stories that show the way that Senpex has leveraged its technology expertise to help companies solve their logistics problems.”
“For example, we assisted in Stanford Medicine’s CATCH Study, a research study aimed at understanding how COVID-19 spread through the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Senpex technology allowed Sanford to not only deliver test kits, but also pick them up from users and deliver them back to Stanford within a 24-hour timeframe. Success required a completely new approach to on-demand last-mile delivery, which involved QR code scanning, electronic proof of delivery, and two-sided integration with the patient HUB system. It also required developing special protocols to protect drivers from the threat of exposure to COVID-19.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Mammadov assessed:
“We are pursuing a Total Addressable Market size of $132.71 billion in 2022, which is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% from 2023 to 2030.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Mammadov affirmed:
“Our main differentiator is the quality of service we provide, which is the best in its class. We also provide a number of different types of deliveries, including oversize deliveries, food, healthcare products, and other challenging verticals that require special care and expertise.”
“We have a custom-built optimization engine that allows us to consistently use the most effective delivery routes, which are updated in real-time as issues arise. This enables us to deliver on time more reliably than our competition.”
“Finally, we can offer a higher level of service and customer satisfaction because we are a data-driven company. We don’t manage our company based on our instincts or the latest trends. We are constantly improving our products based on feedback from our clients and hard data on how our processes are performing.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Mammadov concluded:
“We have a solid strategy to expand our services nationwide by the end of the year, after which we will be focusing on expanding into Canada. We are also excited about playing a role in supporting deliveries via autonomous vehicles through partnerships that we have already established.”
“Improving our technology in the area of oversized deliveries is another goal we have. This includes developing processes to streamline commercial movings and projects that transition companies from one factory to another.”
“Advancing our efforts in sustainability is also something we are focused on for the future. We want to promote last-mile delivery efforts using green vehicles, as well as provide more support for recycling services.
Overall, we see Senpex becoming in the last-mile logistics space what Shopify has become in e-commerce. We want to provide optimal solutions for companies looking to integrate proven logistics into their business operations, empowering them to scale, satisfy their customers, and achieve their future goals.”
