How This Entrepreneur Identified A $6 Billion E-Commerce Opportunity

Miha, founder of Blockit, discussed his AI smart parcel locker startup. Blockit provides smart parcel lockers for people to collect their packages, operating in an industry that has become increasingly mainstream. While the user experience is seamless, Blockit distinguishes itself through its integration speed with partners, data collection capabilities, customization, flexibility, and unique hardware products. Blockit primarily works with B2B clients, specifically couriers in the last-mile delivery industry in Europe. Although B2C is not monetized, Blockit's lockers are used over 100 million times a year, surpassing the busiest airports in terms of visits. The inspiration for Blockit came from Miha's personal pain point of needing to store belongings during a vacation. This led to the idea of shared locker spaces for exchanging items and storing belongings, which evolved into the current smart parcel locker concept. The company's journey began with four owned lockers in late 2019. The timing was fortuitous, as demand from businesses, logistics companies, couriers, and retailers surged. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further accelerated e-commerce growth, positioning Blockit with a crucial product in a rapidly expanding industry that needed last-mile optimization. Today, Blockit manages a complex operation across 10 different markets. They sell hardware, maintain it, and run the operating system, essentially functioning as three companies simultaneously: a hardware company, a software company, and field operations. Blockit partners with major European brands like Vintage, Inost, DHL, GLS, and DPD. Technologically, Blockit addresses key pain points. On the hardware side, they are the only company providing battery-powered lockers, eliminating issues with certifications, permits, or electrical grid power, allowing placement anywhere with full functionality. For software, easy integration and a comprehensive suite enable crucial data collection and features like capacity planning, informing couriers of locker availability. These pain points were identified through close collaboration with customers, who serve as both critics and sources of market information. Tailoring solutions for one customer often reveals broader applicability. For instance, challenges related to weather conditions in certain countries or insights into battery duration based on usage patterns in specific markets inform product improvements. However, due to the competitive nature of their clients, Blockit maintains "Chinese walls" to protect sensitive information, focusing on core product enhancements rather than sharing specific best practices. Blockit's main markets are in Europe, including France, Germany, UK, Spain, Benelux, Italy, and Portugal. They see significant expansion potential, particularly in the US, where the locker industry is less developed. The US faces inefficiencies in home deliveries for couriers and a significant problem with parcel theft, which lockers can solve. Blockit aims to be present when aggressive locker expansion inevitably occurs in the US, driven by a "fear of missing out" (FOMO) among competitors. For consumers, lockers offer convenience by eliminating the need to wait for parcels at home, especially when not present for delivery. While density is currently a factor, the goal is widespread availability, making lockers a highly convenient option. For couriers, lockers significantly improve cost efficiency by allowing them to drop off multiple parcels at one location instead of individual houses. This also contributes to environmental sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions from house-to-house deliveries. Fundraising for Blockit, initially challenging due to its hardware component and first-time founders, has become easier with traction and growth. The company has been doubling its revenue year-over-year, approaching 100 million in revenue last year, which demonstrates market potential and execution to investors. Beyond money, Blockit seeks investors who can support future rounds and offer expertise in consolidation, as acquiring companies is part of their long-term plan. Blockit's revenue model involves selling lockers and charging recurring fees for the operating system and maintenance. Their clients, the delivery companies, pay for this infrastructure. Blockit simplifies the process for clients by handling everything from manufacturing to maintenance once a list of desired locations is provided. Locker density varies across Europe, with countries like Poland having a high density (around one locker per thousand people). Europe as a whole still needs approximately 800,000 more lockers to match the most dense countries, representing a potential 6 billion euro hardware market in last-mile delivery over the next few years. Blockit aims to capture half of this market while exploring US expansion and other market segments. Manufacturing challenges include supply chain and tariff issues, which Blockit embraces as opportunities to build a stronger, more resilient framework. The future of manufacturing will heavily involve AI and automation, with factories becoming increasingly autonomous. While predicting the exact timeline is difficult, Miha believes this will massively increase capacity and benefit everyone, with people managing processes more efficiently rather than losing jobs. In the next 6 to 12 months, Blockit plans significant expansion, including launching new products and entering multiple geographical markets simultaneously. Miha's advice for first-time founders is to focus and be consistent, recognizing that people often overestimate what they can achieve in a day but underestimate what they can accomplish in a year.