A VC in Vacationland

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According to VentureBeat, New Yorkers will soon have yet
another way to get just about anything delivered to their door.

Postmates, the local delivery startup that’s already made
a name for itself in San Francisco and Seattle, is kicked off its New York
City operations in June.

So far, the company has 40
couriers in NYC, and it’ll be offering deliveries in the greater Flatiron area
(between 14th and 42nd street and from 8th to Lexington Avenue). It plans to
expand its coverage area over the next few weeks.

Postmates is a tech-savvy version
of traditional courier services. The service is particularly useful for
restaurants that don’t deliver (yes, there are still quite a few in NYC), and
for when you need a random cable from the Apple store. It competes with
NYC-based WunWun,
which offers on-demand
helpers, and Taskrabbit to a certain extent.

The company features something
we’re seeing as a growing trend: Integrating a well-designed mobile app
seamlessly with business model features such as commerce. (We’re focusing on
this trend at MobileBeat 2o13,
our executive event in SF next month. The event’s tagline: “How to building a
Winning mobile experience”)

Also expect plenty more companies
to get into the instant gratification field. Amazon already offers same-day
shipping for certain items in New York City, and eBay just kicked off its
own same-day delivery service, eBay Now, which promises
deliveries in under an hour.

Postmates employees rely on a
custom mobile app for managing jobs and are equipped with a company credit
card. Delivery fees are dependent on the duration and difficulty of the job, as
well as on how busy the service is at a particular moment. (Expect higher fees
during peak hours.) To give New Yorkers a chance to test out its service,
Postmates is waiving delivery fees for the next week.

The NYC launch comes on the heels
of impressive growth for the company. Postmates says its delivery volume is
growing 20 percent every month, and it has processed more than $1 million worth
in deliveries over the past three months in San Francisco and Seattle.

Postmates has raised around $6.75
million so far. Most recently, it raised $5 million in a first round led by
FoundersFund.