Originals · Startup · Startups & Fintech
Dispatch Network raises Rs 5 Cr pre-seed led by Antler India to build an AI model that picks each rider's next order
The Pune last-mile delivery startup, which runs riders for Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto and ONDC sellers, wants to grow its in-house logistics model and expand to Mumbai.
Pune-based Dispatch Network has raised Rs 5 crore in a pre-seed round led by Antler India, Entrackr and ETEntrepreneur reported on November 2. Angel investors Krishi Fagwani, founder of Thrive, Yashin Mahadevia and Parth Modwadhia also took part. BW Disrupt noted that this is the company's first public funding announcement.
Dispatch runs a last-mile delivery fleet, but its pitch is software. The company is building what it calls a Large Logistics Spatio-Temporal Model, or LLSTM, a foundation AI model for intracity logistics. Instead of letting riders choose orders one at a time, the model sequences work across several delivery platforms, deciding which order a rider should take next and where that rider should wait for the one after. Most of the new money will go into growing the AI team behind that model, the company said in its press release.
The startup was co-founded by Rajit Arya and Navneeth Kannan. It says it has handled more than 100,000 deliveries since launching in Pune in June 2026, with monthly volume rising from 3,014 orders in June to 55,000 in October, and that it now does about 3,500 deliveries a day. It works with food delivery and quick commerce platforms including Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Instamart and BigBasket, and also takes orders from restaurants and stores through direct APIs and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), according to Entrackr.
The company's own numbers are the core of its argument: it claims its model has cut empty kilometres, the distance a rider travels without an order, by two thirds, and that its riders earn about 55% more a month than the industry average, with retention 80% better. "Riders need more orders, but more importantly, they need the right next order," Arya said in the statement carried by ETEntrepreneur. These figures come from the company and have not been independently verified.
Next, Dispatch plans to launch in Mumbai in November, its first city after Pune, and says it is aiming for 50,000 orders a day across five cities.
