Last-Mile Delivery: 5 Market Leaders and 5 to Watch
Last-mile delivery now has a clear top tier: a handful of companies operating at commercial scale, and a faster-moving next wave building what comes after them. Here are five of each, the leaders defining how goods reach the door today and five emerging companies worth watching, with what they do, where they are based, what they have raised and who backs them.
Drawn from the 855 companies Net Zero Insights tracks in last-mile delivery, as of 20 August 2026. This piece sits alongside why the last mile now costs more than half of shipping and which last-mile technologies are actually ready to deploy.
Five market leaders
The best-funded and most widely deployed companies in the market, spanning its main approaches: autonomous vehicles, drones, sidewalk robots and software-led parcel delivery.
Nuro built its reputation on purpose-built autonomous delivery vehicles and has since broadened into a full self-driving platform. Its Autonomous Driving System pairs in-vehicle software with automotive-grade hardware and a camera, radar and lidar sensor suite to operate on urban roads, and the company now licenses that stack, along with developer tools, simulation and fleet-operations software, for integration into logistics, commercial and passenger vehicles. It is the best-funded company in the market.
Zipline runs one of the largest automated drone-delivery operations in the world, built around vertically integrated drone systems and distribution centres that act as launch hubs. It began with time-critical medical supplies such as blood in hard-to-reach regions and has extended into groceries and other consumer goods, with precise, rapid and emission-free delivery as the core promise.
Starship operates a large fleet of autonomous sidewalk robots that carry groceries, hot food, industrial supplies and packages at pedestrian speed. The battery-powered robots use radar, ultrasonic sensors, time-of-flight cameras and neural networks to navigate around pedestrians, cyclists and obstacles, cross roads and operate in most weather, recharging overnight on wireless pads. Its main markets are university campuses, grocery retailers and delivery apps.
Neolix produces autonomous electric delivery vehicles, unmanned vans with integrated perception, localisation, planning and control, each connected to a single fleet platform for remote supervision, routing, software maintenance and analytics. It targets last-mile delivery, logistics, cold chain and both indoor and outdoor transport-automation use cases, and is one of China’s most widely deployed autonomous delivery players.
Paack is a technology-led parcel delivery operator for e-commerce rather than an autonomy company. It uses data analytics for predictive delivery, flexible time slots and real-time tracking, and pairs that with route optimisation and a stated focus on low-carbon operations. It is the software-and-operations counterpoint to the hardware players on this list.
Five emerging companies to watch
Younger and earlier-stage, spread across geographies and technologies, these are building the next versions of the model.
HIVED runs an all-electric last-mile parcel network aimed at becoming a mass-market, zero-emission alternative to incumbent carriers. Its proposition is a streamlined post-purchase experience for retailers, with live parcel visibility, account management and retailer support, delivered entirely on an electric fleet. It is the best-funded company in the newer cohort, and its backers signal serious logistics interest.
Relay is building a technology-driven delivery network for e-commerce retailers, based on a distributed, hyperlocal hub model and a fleet of on-demand couriers. Its platform layers live tracking, performance monitoring and routing optimisation on top, positioning it as a challenger to established parcel carriers on cost and flexibility.
RIVR, a Swiss robotics company, is developing autonomous delivery robots with an unusual wheeled-legged form factor that lets them handle sidewalks, stairs, gates and uneven terrain that defeat purely wheeled robots. The platform combines physical AI, computer vision, sensor fusion and autonomous navigation with mission-planning and fleet-management software. Its cap table is notable for its calibre relative to the company’s age.
MoEVing runs a full-stack intra-city last-mile delivery platform built on electric vehicles, handling delivery from customer hubs to end consumers. Around that it offers Charging-as-a-Service and helps drivers and small fleet owners acquire and operate EVs under its brand, using network, location and battery data for predictive maintenance and fleet optimisation.
Airbound builds long-range delivery drones that combine vertical take-off with a blended-wing body for extended, energy-efficient flight over rural and hard-to-reach regions. It focuses on medical and critical supplies, using lightweight structural materials, high-efficiency propulsion and autonomous flight control, with a central platform coordinating routing and real-time monitoring.
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