Arive raises $20M for an instant delivery service beyond groceries and essentials

What it could do, however, is provide its technology to fashion brands and retailers that have, who are considering ways of getting apparel faster to would-be online buyers.Meanwhile, although it’s taking a different approach in instant delivery by eschewing groceries and FMCG essentials and focusing on higher-ticket slower-moving consumer goods, Arive is still operating very much with those grocery delivery startups in mind for another reason.Reeker told me that Arive actually relishes the oversupply of these startups in certain markets — indeed, the bubble has definitely started to burst for some of these startups, as they get snapped up by much larger and highly capitalized rivals looking to expand to new geographies — because they become a signal for where Arive should be considering to expand to next.“We want to go to more places in Germany and expand internationally, and while we haven’t decided which cities, we looking at those where existing grocery plays are live,” said Reeker. It could point to challenges for scaling something like a fast-delivery service without also providing a wider range of options that offer cheaper options and longer delivery times to customers put off by the premium that comes with instant.Or, it could point to how there remains an opportunity for a smaller and more focused company to get the model right, understanding that the market has matured in the last eight years and consumers are not only more willing to shop online than ever before due to Covid-19, but have focused their expectations of how that experience should more closely mirror the instant-gratification of shopping in person.Investors are willing to bet that the two co-founders — which hatched the idea of Arive while at business school — have a shot in building something fit the latter of those.“Linus, Max, and the entire team at arive are challenging e-commerce conventions with energetic execution and an acute sensitivity to the priorities of modern brands,” said Colin Hanna, partner at Balderton Capital, in a statement.