For many people, post offices have become a common way of receiving parcels. This way you can pick up your order quickly, easily and without queues. The convenient service is based on technologies that respond to growing demand and are constantly being improved.
Ukrainian startup Jetbeep is actively developing this area. It offers a technology that allows hardware manufacturers or logistics companies to make their post offices autonomous. Mezha.Media found out how the team is growing and with whom it cooperates.
How the startup started
Jetbeep was founded by Valeriy Chekalkin and Oleg Gordiychuk in 2017. It all started with the development of retail solutions: mobile wallets and applications. Later, we developed a full-fledged IoT product for retail instore marketing, a solution for paying for public transportation, and a product for vending.
The technology for autonomous post offices is the next step in Jetbeep's development. The company started working on it after a request from its partners in early 2021. The team quickly adapted the developments to create a battery-powered controller that opens the lock remotely.
"The response from the market was incredible, so we pivoted the company and focused on our technology, which allows any post office to be autonomous with all the functions of a post office powered by the mains," recalls Valeriy Chekalkin, CEO of the startup.
The prototype was created in just 1-2 weeks, but the team had to overcome technical challenges before launching the finished product. Jetbeep uses a microcontroller architecture, which made it possible to create a more efficient solution in terms of consumption and price per unit. However, it is more difficult to program and add new features compared to Linux.
How the company's product works
Jetbeep has developed an innovative technology for autonomous mailboxes. The platform has several key advantages. It allows customers to choose their own hardware manufacturer and allows them to create autonomous post offices with all the functions of traditional devices that run on electricity.
The company notes that their development meets key market challenges. It ensures the expansion of the network with autonomous post offices without changing the user experience for couriers and customers, as well as without the need to restructure existing business processes.
"Our technology includes microcontrollers and specialized software and ensures that the post office can operate on a single battery for a period of 3 months to 4 years, depending on its size and functionality. The technology can be integrated into any metal design with the number of cells from 1 to 240," says Valery Chekalkin.
According to him, the platform significantly improves the unit economy, as it does away with expensive and energy-intensive PCs or Linux. Its modular architecture allows you to choose the right "features" for specific business processes. Among its components:
- NB-IoT and CAT-M (LTE-M) modem with ultra-low power consumption;
- Color TFT screens optimized for low power consumption with 7/10 inch resolution;
- OLED screens;
- Keypad;
- QR code/barcode scanner;
- POS terminal;
- 4G-antennae;
- Label printer;
- Ultra-low battery controller to manage the LifePo4 battery and solar charging;
- BLE module with mobile SDK for iOS/Android integration;
- Vibration sensor and alarm;
- Dynamic user interface that allows you to customize screen interfaces and update them remotely;
- A "low-code" scripting language that allows you to quickly create and test custom scripts;
- An emulator tool that allows you to implement and emulate business logic and UX in a web interface without a physical device;
- Remote firmware update.
Who are Jetbeep's customers
The company's technology works in more than 5,200 post offices in Europe, and by the end of 2025, this number should increase to 20,000. The startup's main customer base is concentrated in the European Union: projects have been implemented in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States. At the same time, Jetbeep is negotiating with potential customers from Scandinavia, Germany, and Austria.
The startup's customers can be divided into two main groups. The first one is postal and logistics companies, for which Jetbeep implements projects in collaboration with hardware manufacturers.
"Here, we can both lead the project and be responsible for our part - to be a technology provider, namely controllers and software. Currently, our customers include Omniva, Latvian Post and other companies," explains Valeriy Chekalkin.
The second group of clients are integrators and hardware manufacturers, such as Flexity, Hansab, and ParcelSea.
As part of the cooperation, the Ukrainian company offers various solutions. These can be projects of post offices for several cells (private) or solutions for 72 cells.
"But because of the low consumption and lower price due to optimization, we provide a better price than competitors across the spectrum, but especially for smaller formats. One of these formats is the Parcelsea solution, a modular solution with three sections that starts with about 10 cells and can then be scaled up to 20 and 30 cells," adds Jetbeep's CEO.
Future plans and investments
The startup sees its further development in two business models. The first one, which already exists, involves the sale of technological solutions to large logistics companies and operators of post office networks.
The second model is new. Its goal is to create its own network of open-type post offices, where customers can rent cells by integrating their services with Jetbeep technology.
The launch of its own network of post offices is scheduled for next year. In addition, in 2025, the startup intends to double its revenue from the sale of its technology to large logistics companies.
Jetbeep is also actively working on expanding its geography. The main focus is currently on the European Union and the UK. However, we plan to enter the US market and explore other promising regions.
Realizing ambitious intentions requires not only considerable effort but also financial resources. Recently, Jetbeep became one of 24 Ukrainian startups that received funding from the Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund.
"We have attracted relatively small amounts of investment for a hardware company, and now investors own about 20% of Jetbeep. Our investors include StartupWiseGuys, Techni Ventures, Lviv Tech Angels, the Jankilevitsch family, Sasha Reminny, and a number of other private investors," says the startup's CEO.
Postal and logistics industry in Ukraine and abroad
Postal services in Ukraine and the EU are developing differently. In our country, Valeriy Chekalkin points out, Nova Poshta is a "dominant monopolist." It has set high standards of service and ensured wide coverage with post offices - one per 1,000 citizens.
However, Jetbeep's CEO notes that Nova Poshta's parcel lockers have a limited UX. Users can only receive and send parcels using the mobile app. In his opinion, this is a big deterrent.
"Because, for example, my mother will never download an app, and she would enter the pin code from an SMS. Despite this, post offices are often fully loaded. But in general, unfortunately, our market is insolvent, and there is almost no room for competitors: you can compete, but you won't make much money, and there are objective risks, such as the war," he emphasizes.
In the EU, the situation is different: post offices there are very technologically advanced, but there are few of them. For example, Germany has one post office per 4,000 citizens. There is more competition there due to several large logistics companies, as well as a much more developed economy with a high level of e-commerce.
"Therefore, given that the efforts to open your own network are about the same, the prospects for this are much greater in the EU. And the US is generally 3-5 years behind the EU in the development of post offices, so we will go there later," summarizes Jetbeep's CEO.