eCourier is a courier service based in the United Kingdom.
Courier positions are tracked by GPS and an intelligent dispatch system assigns orders via GPRS, improving efficiency in a traditional industry.Michael Trick's Operations Research Blog, 23 June 2006, https://mat.tepper.cmu.edu/blog/?p=81. See also articles from The Economist and Financial Times. A computer algorithm distributes orders to couriers in real time based on location, traffic, weather and demand. The algorithm was developed by a team of academics in Italy.Real-Time Fleet Management At Ecourier Ltd
The company stores the historical GPS positions of its couriers, and uploads this information to OpenStreetMap.Partners - OpenStreetMap https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Partners This information is also offered to the public via an API under a Creative Commons license. As of October 2008, their data set included over 252 million historical positions.eCourier Location API http://api.ecourier.co.uk/
The company was founded by Tom Allason and Jay Bregman, after event tickets were lost by a motorcycle courier.Moules, Jonathan: Couriers Have High-Speed Connection, Financial Times, 18 March 2006 The business won Allason recognition as a Growing Business Top Gun 2007, and Bregman from the British Computer Society as 2005 IT Director of the Year.Award http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143451303647930/young-guns-2007.html Medallists of the Individual Excellence Awards 2005
Investors in the company include Esther Dyson and Stuart Wheeler. Venture Capital firm Logispring also owned a minority stake in the company."eCourier - Parcel Delivery in Color" Alarm Clock, 18 October 2006, available at http://www.thealarmclock.com/euro/archives/2006/10/ecourier_parcel_deli.html In 2007, the company won the Evening Standard’s Most Inspirational Business award."The Winner: eCourier", Evening Standard, 2007 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/itsyourbusiness/article-23383010-details/The+winner:+eCourier/article.do In 2008, Allason left the company to pursue a new venture."eCourier.co.uk Founder Leaves to Pursue New venture" Press Release, 2008 and the following year, launched Shutl.
In 2009, eCourier reached 6 on Deloitte’s list of UK’s 50 Fastest Growing Technology Businesses."Winners List 2009", Deloitte, 2009 and #53 on The Sunday Times Tech Track list of Britain's fastest growing private technology companies."Britain's fastest-growing private technology companies", Sunday Times, 2009 In November 2015, eCourier was acquired by Royal Mail, and now has one of the largest and most recognisable courier fleets in London and the South.
References