Meet Pick8ship Technology founder Josef Haid and find out how the Venture Leader Technology aims to revolutionize logistics

22.10.2021 07:00, Isabelle Mitchell

One person’s trash is another person’s innovative business idea. Dr. Josef Haid’s family inspired his startup: Their passion for online shopping made Josef rethink logistics and found Pick8ship Technology, a Venture Leader Technology 2021. The Zurich-based startup wants to revolutionize e-commerce logistics with the world’s first shelf-less robotic fulfillment and delivery system. Learn more about Josef’s expectations for the Venture Leaders Technology experience, and find out why you might come across his name on Spotify and iTunes.

Earlier this year, 10 technology startups—covering a range of topics such as computer vision, cloud solutions, cybersecurity, logistics, and sustainability—joined the Swiss National Startup Team. To advance their global growth, the Venture Leaders Technology 2021 will travel to Silicon Valley to showcase Switzerland’s innovative power and network with investors and industry leaders. To ensure you know which startups transform the technology industry, we will introduce you to the startups selected by the expert jury. We asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose at least six questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life.

Name: Dr. Josef Haid 
Location: Zurich 
Nationality: German 
Graduated from: University of Zurich, Lic. oec. publ. University of Zurich, 1996 
Your job title: Founder and CEO of Pick8ship Technology 
Number of employees: 8 to 30 (project-based) 
First touchpoint with Venturelab: In 2017, through the News and Events sections on the website
  
“At Pick8ship Technology, we develop a shelf-less robotic fulfillment and delivery system for e-commerce—supporting retailers and logistics service providers to fulfill and deliver orders faster, more efficiently, and more sustainably.”  
 
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?  
Living with a wife and daughters who extensively shop online, I spent up to 100 hours per year disposing of cardboard, packaging waste, and returns handling. From my background, I had seen the inefficiencies of warehouses, retails stores, and parcel delivery. So, I started to dig deeper. Talked to many delivery drivers, observed the loading and unloading of vans and trucks, and sorting- and fulfillment centers. I realized that products are handled 40 to way over 100 times from a producer to consumer, involving lots of manual handling, space, and transport. The automation efforts I saw have been very capital intensive, inflexible, and hard to scale.  
With e-commerce on the rise, I saw a huge opportunity but no solution. I knew automation could not solve the problem (“never automate a wrong process”), but I also learned from my years in the restaurant equipment business that there are better ways than stacking boxes or storing goods on fixed shelves. So came up with the idea of a container to flexibly store and retrieve goods in 2017. While thinking about getting my shipments onto a belt sorter, I realized I don’t need one. The idea of the handling robot and, subsequently, the whole Pick8ship system for robot fulfillment and delivery was born. We applied for the first patents in 2018. After talking to potential customers and the industry, I founded the company at the end of 2018.  
 
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision? 
 The United States of America is by far the largest e-commerce market next to Asia. Besides growth, the market is in a major transition toward faster, more decentral, and more sustainable fulfillment and last-mile delivery, and a lot of new logistics infrastructure must be built. The US is a hot spot from a funding perspective for logistics and retail technology, especially robotics. Venture Leaders Technology 2021 is a great opportunity for Pick8ship to increase visibility and access investors and future customers. We are very much looking forward to introducing Pick8ship to a broader audience in the US. In addition, the exchange with the crowd of technology startup leaders is a great opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other. 
 
What is one thing not many people know about you? 
I am a passionate singer and songwriter with original records published. 
 
What would be the title of your biography?
Dreams come true. I am very grateful that several times, my dreams came true. The advice of the song: Keep on trying; keep on believing; one day, your dreams come true! 
 
What advice would you give your teenage self? 
Do it!

How did you come up with the name of your startup?  
The name came early on from what we wanted to do: e-commerce fulfillment and delivery. To condense our vision of sustainable e-commerce, we added the “8”, standing for leaving the “one-way street to the dump” toward a more circular model of re-use, re-sell, rent-all, and re-cycle.  
 
What is your favorite productivity hack?  
Do it! Get your hands dirty, keep your eyes and senses open, think out of the box, and try. 
 
What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder?  
The privilege of seeing your vision become reality.


For more information and updates on Pick8Ship Technology and the Venture Leaders Technology, follow the Venture Leaders Technology 2021 team with #VLeadersTech on social media or subscribe to our newsletter. 
 
The Venture Leaders Technology 2021 program is organized by Venturelab and supported by dpd Switzerland, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Intel, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co, and the Canton of Vaud.