Sri Lanka’s leading transport partner, PickMe, crossed two significant milestones in its mere 8-year journey – completing 100 million rides and crossing the 900-million-kilometer mark. The application is now an integral part of the Sri Lankan community; it is difficult to find a citizen without the app on their phone today. Besides transport, the PickMe application hosts several features, such as the delivery of parcels, food, groceries, and gas cylinders that make life on the island much more effortless. “While technology is positioned well within our company, we have also succeeded in integrating proactively into communities and have created value in the lives of our customers and driver partners,” highlights the Founder and CEO of PickMe, Jiffry Zulfer.
Setting the Status as Sri Lanka’s Leading Transport Platform
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), together with the rest of the company’s prominent investors, has also been impressed with the growth of PickMe and its popularity. At ‘Internet Day 2022’ organized by the Federation of Information Technology Industry of Sri Lanka (FITIS), IFC Disruptive Technology Investments South Asia Lead, Ruchira Shukla, stated, “As a star performer in the startup ecosystem of Sri Lanka, they have executed well through the macroeconomic storms over the last two years.
With this, Jiffry attributes the company’s success to its focus on providing high-quality service and commitment to ensuring its passengers’ and customers’ safety and comfort. Additionally, PickMe’s strong relationship with its driver community and its efforts to provide them with fair compensation and benefits have also played a key role in its success. “It is not easy to build a platform that engages millions of users daily, and our team of 120 IT engineers is dedicated to ensuring that the application runs seamlessly so that no one’s income or livelihood is hindered.”
PickMe’s Commitment to Innovative forms of Mobility in Sri Lanka
Having begun its operations in 2015, the company has placed innovation at the heart of all its operations. In doing so, PickMe has transformed the transportation sector in Sri Lanka with improved convenience, excellent customer service, and its corporate commitment to social responsibility.
Enabling movement for everyone
PickMe Flash and Marketplace have been used widely since the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a safe and reliable way for businesses and individuals to transport goods and deliver groceries to their doorsteps. In the following months, the company also launched several new payment models like PickMe Pass to provide customers with better-catered and more affordable solutions. On top of this, the company’s core ride-hailing service offering a range of vehicles, from bikes to tuks to cars to vans, remains a popular and economical choice for traveling from Point A to Point B. Even tourists visiting Sri Lanka opt for the platform’s ride-hailing service, as evidenced by a dedicated parking space exclusively for PickMe vehicles now installed at the Bandaranaike International Airport.
Transforming logistics for corporations
One of its latest innovations is PickMe Corporate, a transportation solution that allows businesses to manage employee travel more efficiently, resulting in savings of over 35%. The service offers a centralized billing system, real-time tracking of rides, customizable riding solutions and vendor lists, and separate accounts for different departments to provide greater control over its staff travel expenses. “PickMe Corporate has already gained popularity among many clients, including large multinational corporations and local startups such as MAS, Brandix, Standard Chartered, Dialog Axiata, Emirates, Daraz, Atlas, DHL, Maersk, Kingsbury, and many more,” shares Jiffry.
Giving back to the community with strategic partnerships
PickMe’s commitment to social responsibility is evident through its initiatives to promote transport sustainability and empower the local community. “We have partnered with other sustainable transport solutions on the island, such as RHODA E-bikes, for our delivery operations. E-bikes are significantly cheaper than motorcycles and have zero direct emissions to the environment,” conveys Jiffry. Additionally, E-bikes incur an incomparably less running cost which would help PickMe’s driver partners travel longer distances at a fraction of the fuel price. During the pandemic, PickMe also subsidized the travel for passengers heading to vaccination centers to help boost the country’s vaccination drive for the health of the society.
PickMe set to go regional as it crosses landmark milestones
The accomplishment of PickMe in surpassing 100 million rides and 900 million kilometers is an impressive milestone for the company. It highlights the significant impact that PickMe has had on the transportation industry in their region, providing a convenient and accessible mode of transportation for individuals and businesses. This success results from their dedication to innovation, quality service, and customer satisfaction. With it now being an indispensable part of life in Sri Lanka, PickMe envisions that completing its second 100 million rides and 1 billion kilometers would not be too far along with the level of innovation taking place to cross Sri Lanka’s borders soon.