VMPL

New Delhi [India], July 6: Commute commerce startup DriveThruu, incubated at IIT Roorkee, is preparing for expansion across Delhi following early customer validation and consistent month-on-month growth in its pilot cluster. Founded in 2025 by Shekhar Soni and Mohit Somai, the platform lets commuters pre-order from high-street stores along their route and collect their order through the car window in under 60 seconds - no parking or detour.

A different answer to the 10-minute delivery era

At a time when commerce is being reshaped by inventory-led, 10-minute delivery models built around dark stores, DriveThruu is taking the opposite bet: putting power back in the hands of neighbourhood and organised retail stores. Instead of routing demand away from the high street, the platform gives established stores visibility to the thousands of commuters who drive past them every day - and gives those commuters a frictionless way to order on the go.

'Commuters pass hundreds of stores on their daily route and buy from almost none of them, because stopping means parking, queueing, and losing more than 30 minutes,' said Founders. 'We call it commuter informational blindness. Fixing it doesn't require dark stores or discounts - it requires a fulfilment rail built for the curb.'

Beyond food: original prices, fresh stock

Unlike aggregator menus with inflated pricing, DriveThruu customers order at the store's original prices across a wide range of categories - food, coffee, flowers, OTC medicines, wellness and daily essentials. Because orders are fulfilled directly by the store from its live shelf stock rather than a warehouse, customers don't have to worry about near-expiry inventory being pushed to them, a growing concern with warehouse-led delivery models.

Growing brand roster

DriveThruu has partnered with established names including Bikanervala, Moets, Kents, Hunger Strike, and Daily Drama, alongside a growing base of independent high-street merchants in its pilot cluster. 'DriveThruu has changed how commuters order on the go - reducing congestion and queues at our storefront,' said Jaspal Singh Sahni, owner at Kent's Burger Defence Colony. 'Because order details reach us before the commuter even arrives, we can see demand ahead of time and manage our inventory well in advance.'

A distribution channel merchants actually keep margin on

For restaurant and store partners, DriveThruu operates at a merchant-friendly commission - a fraction of the 25-35% typically charged by home delivery platforms. This gives merchants a second distribution network beyond home delivery: one that captures commuter demand they were losing entirely, at unit economics that leave margin on the table for the store, not just the platform.

'Home delivery solved one context -- the customer at home,' said Founders. 'But the commuter in a car or a cab, passing your storefront, was invisible to every platform. We're building the rail for that customer, at a commission a merchant can actually live with.'

The long-term vision: a commute companion

The founders see curbside pickup as the first layer of a much larger platform. The long-term vision is to become India's commute companion - the app a commuter opens at the start of every journey, layering commerce, utility, and route intelligence onto the daily commute, the way super-apps in Southeast Asia layered services onto captive daily-use audiences.

'The commute is the last unclaimed hour of the Indian consumer's day,' said Founders. 'Curbside commerce is our wedge. The destination is a platform that makes every drive more useful - where you can order, refuel, find what you need, and support the stores on your own streets while doing it.'

About DriveThruu

DriveThruu (Proximity Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) is a Curbside commerce platform incubated at IIT Roorkee. Commuters pre-order from high-street merchants along their route and receive their order through the car window in under 59 seconds via a trained walker - no parking, no detour. DriveThruu currently operates in Delhi NCR and is preparing to expand across the city.

Instagram :@drivethruukaro

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