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| The ten digital businesses from Africa that showed their ideas against 6 000 other start-ups at the Viva Technology Conference in Paris, France in May. |
The app, available for Android and Apple, is the brainchild of Khatutshelo Mufamadi, who used his own bakkie for deliveries in his spare time while working as a computer programmer at a bank. Seeing a gap in the market, he started working on an e-hailing service for bakkies and trucks in 2015 and after investing R200 000 of his own capital and raising a further R1,4 million in seed capital, he launched the app late last year.
Since then Droppa has signed up 450 users in Gauteng, with new drivers daily adding to the pool of Droppa vehicles, currently approaching 80 in number.
Mufamadi told Wheels the company will in the first quarter of next year expand to Durban, Maritzburg and Richards Bay.
To apply to become a owner-driver for Droppa requires completing on the company website the name and phone number of the Droppa driver, plus supporting documents of the company or sole proprietor.
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| Khatutshelo Mufamadi looking stressed ahead of his presentation at the Viva Technology Conference in Paris |
Successful applicants are listed on the app and receive a cap and T-shirt for mahala.
Mufamadi told Wheels he is looking for drivers with vehicles ranging from half-tonner bakkies to 8-tonner trucks. Vehicles must have valid RWC, with reasonably low mileage.
The smaller the load the lower the rate, the minimum is R200 within five kilometres, after which the client pays R6/km.
For four-ton loads the minimum charge is R2 000 within five kilometres plus R25/km thereafter.
As with Uber, Droppa clients — the people to whom deliveries are made — receive the driver’s details and the vehicle registration number on their cellphones when they request a drop, and a map allows them to follow location of the Droppa vehicle.
Goods are insured in the case of damage or loss while in transit or in storage.
“We cater for all household and office furniture with different vehicle types to meet all your delivery need. Our secure payment methods allow you to get the right truck at your doorstep and will be with you at the destination of your choice,” states Mufamadi on the website.
What aspiring partners want to know is how much they can earn from Droppa, and Mufamdi said the driver gets 85% of the fee, while Droppa takes 15%.
Mufamadi was one of two companies from South Africa who pitched his business against 6 000 other start-ups at the Viva Technology Conference in Paris in May. He said he returned from France with several leads to grow Droppa and apart from the three cities in KZN, will also expand to the Western Cape next.
More on www.droppa.co.za
