What Relay Delivery does

Relay Delivery is a New York-based, private delivery-as-a-service platform founded in 2014 that operates across four US East Coast metro markets—New York City/New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. The company enables restaurants to fulfill orders originating from any source (phone, restaurant website, or third-party delivery apps such as Grubhub) using Relay's own courier fleet. By integrating overnight with major third-party platforms and providing a unified order management dashboard, Relay allows restaurants to retain those platforms for marketing and discovery while outsourcing last-mile fulfillment to Relay at materially lower commission rates—the company claims up to 75% reduction versus traditional third-party delivery.

The core technology consists of three integrated components: a restaurant-facing delivery platform that aggregates orders from all channels, a courier mobile application with route optimization and real-time readiness notifications, and a restaurant dashboard for courier tracking, zone management, and ETA control. Couriers are paid hourly (rather than per-delivery) and retain 100% of tips, creating predictable labor economics that the company uses as a structural cost advantage. Relay monetizes by charging restaurants transaction-based fulfillment fees under quote-based, pay-as-you-go pricing.

The company targets SMB restaurants as its primary customer segment, with disclosed customers including Blockheads Burritos, Calexico, Doughnut Plant, Yumpling Taiwanese Food, and The Bagel Place. Go-to-market combines a content-led website, customer testimonials, and a specialist-assisted direct sales motion. Total disclosed equity funding is approximately $1M from a 2015 seed round (Rainfall Ventures, RiverPark Ventures) with a subsequent undisclosed 2017 round (Fantail Ventures, Mistral Equity Partners). Founded by CEO Alex Blum and CTO Mike Chevett, Relay remains a small team (11–50 employees) with Nell McBride serving as Director of Operations.

Name

Relay Delivery

Legal name

Relay Delivery

Website

https://relay.delivery

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Relay Delivery is a New York-based delivery-as-a-service platform that enables SMB restaurants across NYC, NJ, Philadelphia, and DC to fulfill orders from phones, websites, and third-party apps using Relay's own courier fleet, reducing delivery commissions by up to 75%.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Delivery Logistics Services

NAICS

Couriers and Express Delivery Services (4921), Couriers and Messengers (492), Local Messengers and Local Delivery (49221)

SIC

Air Courier Services (4513)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Delivery & Restaurant Logistics Platforms (BPAMAHAB)

Keywords

• Restaurant delivery logistics
• Delivery fulfillment services
• Food delivery courier fleet
• Third-party delivery integration
• Last-mile delivery platform

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Delivery Fulfillment Services: Relay charges restaurants for delivery fulfillment, allowing them to reduce commissions by up to 75% compared to traditional third-party delivery platforms. Restaurants pay Relay for delivery while using third-party apps primarily for marketing exposure.
2. Courier Services: Couriers are paid an hourly rate by Relay and keep 100% of tips earned on completed deliveries, providing predictable income for couriers while Relay manages the workforce.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Relay Delivery provides delivery fulfillment services for restaurants by aggregating orders from phone, restaurant websites, and all major third-party delivery apps into a unified management system, then fulfilling them through Relay's own courier fleet. Restaurants keep their third-party app presence for marketing while switching fulfillment to Relay, reducing delivery commissions by up to 75% compared to traditional third-party platforms.

Product overview

Relay Delivery operates as a Delivery-as-a-Service platform consisting of three integrated components: (1) the Relay Delivery Platform for restaurant partners to aggregate orders from third-party apps, websites, and phone orders while using Relay's courier fleet for fulfillment, (2) the Relay Courier App enabling couriers to receive optimized delivery routes and earn hourly pay with tips, and (3) the Relay Restaurant Dashboard providing visibility into courier tracking, delivery zone management, and operational controls. The platform reduces restaurant delivery commissions by up to 75% compared to traditional third-party delivery services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Relay Delivery Platform A delivery-as-a-service platform that enables restaurants to fulfill orders from all sources (third-party apps, website, phone) using Relay's own courier fleet, reducing delivery commissions by up to 75% compared to traditional third-party delivery services. Targeted at SMB restaurants that want to keep third-party apps for marketing while outsourcing fulfillment.
• Relay Courier App Mobile application for independent couriers to receive and manage Relay delivery assignments, featuring route optimization, order readiness notifications, and live support. Couriers earn hourly pay and keep 100% of tips.
• Relay Restaurant Dashboard Unified management dashboard for Relay restaurant partners to track courier location in real time, set delivery zones, adjust ETAs, manage incoming orders from phone, website, and third-party apps, and receive service alerts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Restaurants can reduce delivery commissions by up to 75%
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Chowbus: Chowbus operates its own food delivery marketplace with restaurant-facing logistics tools and in-house courier fulfillment. It has partial overlap with Relay's restaurant delivery fulfillment focus, particularly in dense urban markets.
• Lunchbox: Lunchbox is a restaurant e-commerce and direct-ordering platform with delivery management capabilities. It addresses similar pain points to Relay (third-party commission avoidance, customer data ownership) and overlaps in the restaurant-tech stack.
• Ordermark: Ordermark (merged with Otter) provides a consolidated tablet/dashboard for managing multiple third-party delivery platform orders and, in some cases, dispatching in-house couriers. It is an adjacent competitor in the unified restaurant delivery management category.
• Shipsi: Shipsi is a same-day delivery aggregator that connects retailers and restaurants with courier networks for on-demand fulfillment. It is an emerging player in the delivery-as-a-service category Relay serves, with comparable software-plus-courier positioning.

Broad incumbents

• DoorDash Drive: DoorDash Drive is DoorDash's white-label last-mile delivery service that lets retailers and restaurants use DoorDash's courier fleet for their own orders. It competes with Relay's courier-backed fulfillment offering while leveraging DoorDash's scale, brand, and existing restaurant relationships.
• Uber Direct: Uber Direct (formerly Uber Connect / Postmates On-Demand) is Uber's white-label delivery offering for restaurants and retailers. It is a broad-incumbent competitor to Relay's restaurant delivery fulfillment model with access to Uber's national courier network.

Direct peers

• Cuboh: Cuboh provides restaurant delivery management software that integrates third-party delivery apps, POS, and in-house delivery into a single tablet/dashboard. It is a direct competitor in the order-aggregation and self-delivery enablement space Relay targets.
• Deliverect: Deliverect aggregates online orders from delivery platforms, POS systems, and direct channels into restaurant kitchens. It overlaps with Relay's unified order-routing thesis and serves a similar SMB-to-enterprise restaurant customer base across multiple geographies.
• Otter: Otter is a restaurant delivery management platform that consolidates orders from multiple third-party delivery apps into a single dashboard and offers integrated delivery fulfillment. It competes directly with Relay's unified order management and courier-backed fulfillment value proposition for SMB and mid-market restaurants.
• Sauce: Sauce is a restaurant technology platform offering direct online ordering, delivery management, and aggregated third-party app integration. It directly competes with Relay in giving restaurants control over their delivery operations and customer data.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/deliveryrelay
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/relay-delivery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

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 Relay Delivery