She Built a Logistics Startup by Solving Philadelphia's Last-Mile Problem

Priya Anand didn't set out to start a logistics company. She was running operations for a small furniture retailer in South Philadelphia, spending hours each week rerouting delivery drivers around narrow streets, alternate-side parking, and buildings without loading zones.

"I built a spreadsheet just to solve my own problem," Anand said. "Eventually other small retailers in the neighborhood asked if they could use it too."

That spreadsheet became a routing platform tailored specifically to dense urban delivery constraints that national logistics software largely ignores. Her company now serves over 200 small businesses across Philadelphia, optimizing routes around the city's particular geography rather than treating it like a generic suburban delivery zone.

Anand says the hardest part of scaling wasn't the technology but convincing small business owners, many running on thin margins, that a subscription software tool was worth the monthly cost.

"I had to prove it saved them real money before they'd trust me with recurring revenue," she said. Her company reached profitability last year without outside venture funding, a point she says she is proud of, even if it meant slower growth than competitors that raised large rounds.