Why we chose to build last-mile logistics instead of e-commerce.

When we started Dashdrop, every investor we spoke to asked the same question: why logistics? Why not build the marketplace on top? Here's the honest answer.

When we started Dashdrop, every investor we spoke to asked some version of the same question: why logistics? The margins are thin, the operations are complex, and everyone assumes the big platform play is the marketplace on top. So why build the pipes instead of what runs through them?

The answer starts with what we observed on the ground. In Nairobi in 2022, there were hundreds of food vendors, pharmacies, and small retailers doing brisk business — but almost none of them could offer reliable same-day delivery. Not because demand wasn't there, but because the infrastructure to fulfil it didn't exist. Riders were informal, uninsured, and unreliable. There was no dispatch system, no tracking, no accountability.

We looked at e-commerce and we saw a business that requires holding inventory, managing supplier relationships, and competing on price. We looked at last-mile logistics and we saw a business where every business in the city is a potential partner rather than a competitor — and where our value is reliability and speed.

Two and a half years in, that bet looks correct. We have over 300 business partners across Kenya. None of them are our competitors. All of them benefit when we get faster and more reliable. The platform will come — but only because we built the infrastructure first.