What Pinga does

Pinga was a UK-based mobile application company headquartered in London. Originally founded in 2016 by co-founders Jack Rubin and Michael Goulden, the company began as a crowdsourced instant-help app and subsequently evolved into one of the early entrants in the fast grocery delivery category, offering on-demand fulfillment of convenience and grocery items to urban consumers. The pivot repositioned Pinga into the same broad competitive set as later, better-capitalized q-commerce operators, but at a substantially smaller scale.

The company's product surface was a consumer mobile app connecting end users with local couriers for rapid grocery delivery. No detailed technology stack, proprietary algorithms, or platform architecture is documented in the available data, and the API details confirm no public API was exposed. Pinga operated with a small team of 1-10 employees throughout its independent life and did not disclose pricing, take-rates, GMV, or unit economics.

Commercially, Pinga was a venture-backed for-profit private company. It raised approximately $886,000 across four disclosed funding events between 2017 and 2020, with the largest being a roughly $373,274 round in April 2020, and participated in the Huckletree Alpha Programme in London in 2018. The company was acquired by Beelivery in 2022, ending its operation as an independent grocery delivery venture.

Name

Pinga

Website

https://pinga.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pinga was a London-based mobile app that originated as a crowdsourced instant-help service and pivoted into an early fast grocery delivery platform. Founded in 2016, the company was acquired by Beelivery in 2022.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Quick Commerce Delivery

NAICS

Couriers and Express Delivery Services (492110), Local Messengers and Local Delivery (4922)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210)

akta.pro primary industry

Crowdsourced Grocery & Convenience Delivery (TLAAAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Quick Commerce (15–60 min Convenience Delivery) (CRAHAIAB), Rapid Convenience/Quick Commerce (c-stores, snacks, essentials) (CRAFAFAC), Crowdsourced Retail Errand/Shopping & Delivery (TLAAAGAE)

Keywords

• Instant grocery delivery
• Crowdsourced delivery service
• On-demand delivery
• Quick commerce delivery
• Last-mile delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Core offering

Pinga started as a crowdsourced instant help app that connected users with on-demand help, and evolved into an early fast grocery delivery service using a crowdsourced courier model. The company was acquired by Beelivery in 2022 and operated as a small UK-based delivery platform facilitating rapid grocery fulfillment for individual consumers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pinga Grocery Delivery

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Emerging players

• Dija: London-based 10-minute grocery delivery startup acquired by Jiffy in 2021; closely comparable to Pinga in scope, geography, and target customer before being absorbed.

Broad incumbents

• Ocado Retail: UK pure-play online grocery retailer with home delivery slots; serves the same online grocery demand as Pinga, though via scheduled rather than instant delivery.
• Deliveroo: UK-headquartered on-demand food and grocery delivery platform listed on the London Stock Exchange; broader incumbent offering restaurant and grocery delivery with comparable last-mile logistics in the same London market.
• Uber Eats: Global on-demand food and grocery delivery arm of Uber; operates a comparable on-demand delivery model in the UK and competes for the same urban convenience-grocery customer wallet.

Direct peers

• Beelivery: UK-based crowdsourced on-demand grocery and convenience delivery service; acquired Pinga in 2022. Operates the same crowdsourced last-mile grocery delivery model in overlapping UK geographies.
• Jiffy: UK quick-commerce operator delivering groceries and convenience items in under 30 minutes; acquired Dija in 2021. Directly comparable as a London-focused rapid grocery delivery competitor.
• Getir: Turkish-origin quick-commerce pioneer that operated in the UK offering 10-minute grocery delivery; had significant London overlap with Pinga's target market.
• Gorillas: Berlin-founded instant grocery delivery operator that launched in London; same dark-store-driven quick-commerce proposition targeting UK urban consumers.
• Flink: Berlin-based quick-commerce grocery delivery service that operated in the UK, competing directly with Pinga for time-sensitive urban grocery orders.
• Zapp (Zapp Delivery): UK on-demand convenience delivery service offering rapid delivery of groceries, snacks, and household essentials; directly comparable instant-delivery proposition in overlapping UK cities.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat1 record

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pinga