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OneRail expands ‘last mile’ delivery firm, expects 100 employees by years end

Marco Santana
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OneRail expands ‘last mile’ delivery firm, expects 100 employees by years end
CEO Bill Catania cuts the ribbon on OneRail’s new offices in Orlando.

To say 2020 was something of a perfect storm for Orlando-based tech company OneRail might be an understatement.

The company provides delivery services of all kinds what is called “last mile” support.

As the pandemic pushed more people to work from home, it also lit a charge into delivery services of all kinds, whether it was delivery of fast food from Wendy’s, electronics from Best Buy or, well, anything from Amazon.

“Last mile” support connects delivery drivers with businesses that have promised its customers to deliver goods on time.

“It just happened that everything that happened last year was in the direction that we were going,” said Bill Catania, CEO of OneRail. “We exist in something that already had a big need even before the pandemic.”

The company recently moved into an 18,000-square-foot facility, an effort to accommodate what Catania says will be a workforce of at least 100 by the end of the year.

OneRail employs about 65 right now.

Essentially, when you order an item from Amazon, for instance, the business that you buy from needs to find a delivery driver in the region.

That’s where OneRail does its work, helping connect retail businesses with drivers for services like Postmates or DoorDash.

“The problem that retailers have is that as ecommerce accelerates, it becomes less efficient for them to manage it on their own,” Catania said. “We don’t have to change behavior to make this platform scale. The behavior has already changed and it continues to go toward an ecommerce model.”

Catania said Amazon raised the bar, as consumers now expect efficient, accurate and quality delivery services from all businesses.

“If I can’t deliver as efficiently as Amazon, I’m in trouble,” he said.

Early last year, just before the pandemic pushed everybody home, OneRail completed an investment round of nearly $6 million.

At the time, the company had 10 employees in downtown Orlando.

Catania characterizes OneRail as a tool for businesses who want to start offering same-day delivery, which consumers have become accustomed to.

“This shift (toward more home delivery) was happening before COVID,” Catania said. “But the acceleration of customers choosing to buy online put pressure on the companies to provide delivery. It’s not even that customers want delivery now. They expect it.”

Orlando Science Center’s Otronicon dates moved permanently

Marco Santana
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0
Orlando Science Center’s Otronicon dates moved permanently

The Orlando Science Center will host its annual Otronicon conference in February permanently.

The museum had held the event on MLK Day weekend in January for its first 15 years. However, it will now instead devote that weekend to more diverse programming, spokesman Jeff Stanford said.

“Ultimately, we felt it was better to move Otronicon to Presidents Day weekend and spend MLK Jr. Weekend focusing on celebrating that holiday,” he said. “And using that to celebrate the values we embrace for inclusivity, diversity, equity and access.”

Otronicon has grown into one of the Central Florida region’s most-celebrated and anticipated technology-related events.

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UCF tech groups, Black Orlando Tech, RALLY, Rollins land Orange County grants

Marco Santana
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0
UCF tech groups, Black Orlando Tech, RALLY, Rollins land Orange County grants

Note: This is the first in a series of posts that takes a closer look at the funding approvals passed by Orange County this week. In future posts, we will highlight the organizations and programs that landed money.

UCF programs and initiatives landed the majority of nearly $2 million in Orange County money meant to diversify the region’s economy by supporting entrepreneurial and tech-related efforts.

Three UCF Research Foundation priorities, UCF’s StarterStudio and its Veterans Entrepreneurship Initiative combined for more than $1.4 million in grants.

Black Orlando Tech, the social entrepreneurship accelerator Rally and Rollins College’s business program also landed grants.

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Electronic Arts’ NCAA game will mean jobs in Orlando, executive confirms

Marco Santana
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Electronic Arts’ NCAA game will mean jobs in Orlando, executive confirms

Electronic Arts’ highest-ranking executive in Central Florida confirmed this week that the coming return of the company’s popular college football title will mean jobs here.

Daryl Holt, vice president/general manager of EA Tiburon, EA Sports Austin and EA Sports Madrid, said in a statement that a new office in downtown Orlando will be the hub of production for EA SPORTS College Football.

“Central Florida has been an incredible home for EA Tiburon for over 25 years,” Holt said. “We are looking forward to a new chapter as we move to the Creative Village in downtown Orlando.”

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Dennis R. Pape: 3 things to tell potential investors in your pitch

Marco Santana
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0
Dennis R. Pape: 3 things to tell potential investors in your pitch
Dennis Pape of SeedfundersOrlando

Dennis R. Pape has been one of the leading figures in Orlando’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for years.

He has run accelerators, taught entrepreneurs and advocated for the expansion of financial support for the ecosystem.

On March 1, he announced the return of VentureScaleUp, a  development program for entrepreneurs that took last year off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

You can apply to participate in the entrepreneurial training program HERE.

Pape also is a part of the tech company investment fund SeedFundersOrlando.

We asked him to share three tips for entrepreneurs who are either considering seeking investment or who have a pitch for investment upcoming.

1. Answer the question, “Why now?”

An investor not only needs to see a viable product. They want to see that you have assessed a market and that the timing of your product or service is ideal.

“We want to see you trying to solve a problem that nobody has before,” Pape said. “Tell me what’s happening out there and show me that it is happening. Then, show me how you’re going to solve the issue.”

Pape shared an example used in the book “Backable” by Suneel Gupta. The book recounts Airbnb’s efforts which famously noticed a growth in Craigslist ads and farmed their listings for referrals. You can find that story, as told to Business Insider, HERE.

2. Practice, develop your pitch

Obviously, you need to know what you are talking about to convince complete strangers to part with their money. Start with friends and family but then move on to share your pitch with other entrepreneurs, Pape said.

“You want to seek out, in particular, other entrepreneurs who have raised capital,” Pape said.

Share information about your company that will garner their interest. You do that by developing your pitch and running through it constantly.

3. Know everything about your business

There are few things worse than listening to an entrepreneur make his pitch, asking him a question and then hearing those dreaded words: “I’ll have to get back to you.”

That’s a red flag, Pape said.

“You should know your business inside and out,” Pape said. “You should know its numbers. We want you to obsess over your business, especially if we are going to give you our money.”

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UCF VR experts gather for online forum as part of group’s monthly meetup

Marco Santana
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UCF VR experts gather for online forum as part of group’s monthly meetup

A group of virtual reality experts in Central Florida will discuss advancements that the technology has made in education, deveopment and research.

The event will serve as the monthly meetup for the Central Florida chapter of the VR/AR Association.

Free tickets are available on Eventbrite for the event, which starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.

The meeting will be hosted online on the Zoom platform.

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Luminar exec: Still a ‘long road ahead’ until fully autonomous vehicles

Marco Santana
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0
Luminar exec: Still a ‘long road ahead’ until fully autonomous vehicles

It’ll be a while before autonomous vehicles perform on par with human drivers, an Orlando’s industry exec said Wednesday.

“Without major disruptions in the industry, it’ll be more than 25 years before self driving is safer than humans,” Luminar Technologies cofounder Jason Eichenholz said. “So we have got a long road ahead.”

Eichenholz’s comments came during a keynote at UCF’s Technology Venture Symposium, which brought UCF-connected businesses together in an online forum.

It’s the latest new event that aims to reconnect the community through virtual meetups and conferences amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Luminar exec to share tech firm’s growth story in UCF online symposium

Marco Santana
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0
Luminar exec to share tech firm’s growth story in UCF online symposium

UCF technology will host an online symposium Wednesday that will highlight Orlando’s tech community, giving a handful of UCF-connected startups a stage to show off their wares.

The daylong UCF Technology Ventures Symposium will be held as the region tries to emerge from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Because of the pandemic, Central Florida events for the last year have been largely limited.

Organizations have had to be creative to continue to help small companies in response.

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Orlando Science Center partners on device drive to help those in need

Marco Santana
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1
Orlando Science Center partners on device drive to help those in need

An Orlando nonprofit’s push to collect “gently used” electronics for students and schools in need will renew at Otronicon.

It’s an effort to make sure the so-called “digital divide” doesn’t widen as more schools require students to work on electronics equipment at home.

Aeras Foundation’s initial drive at Bishop Moore High School helped the nonprofit connect with about 30 community partners, said Michelle Leeper, Aeras’ head of client relations.

“This problem is not going away. The arsenal needs to be bigger,” she said. “There are schools that have it all and others that do not.”

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Orlando’s ECS upgrades U.S. Army’s tactical simulator program

Marco Santana
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0
Orlando’s ECS upgrades U.S. Army’s tactical simulator program

An Orlando company will show off its recently upgraded combat casualty simulator next week.

The demonstration will take place during a conference that organizers have made virtual thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

The TC3Sim built by Engineering & Computer Simulations had already included haptic feedback.

The upgrades to the U.S. Army’s combat medic trainer include the ability to share data among multiple platforms, among others.

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