UK startup aims to cut costs by replacing manual-heavy parcel delivery roles with autonomous AI teams.
Synkka, a UK-based startup building AI-powered workforces for parcel delivery, has closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round led by Ascension VC. The syndicate also included industry veterans and former executives from ITA Group, ZigZag, Sendify, and Global-E.
The company declined to disclose valuation or round size, stressing that the focus was on bringing in investors with direct logistics experience rather than early financial benchmarks.
Founded this year by CEO Torbjörn Maaherra, Chief Growth Officer Jordon Cornish, and CTO Danylo Topchii, Synkka is developing autonomous AI teams to replace human-heavy roles in parcel operations. Maaherra previously worked at Einride, Centiro, and Australia Post Global, where he says he saw the inefficiencies of scaling delivery networks through headcount. Cornish has scaled SaaS startups such as Affinity and Showpad, while Topchii brings expertise in agentic AI systems from LooqMe and Shares.
Synkka’s first product, the AI Carrier Integration Team, automates the costly task of connecting companies to delivery partners. The process, which typically takes months, can be shortened to days while cutting costs by up to 60%, according to the company.
Unlike workflow automation tools that streamline tasks but still rely on human oversight, Synkka positions its AI agents as complete replacements for roles traditionally filled by engineers, analysts, and operations staff. “They employ unnecessary headcount, which can now be automated” Cornish said.
The startup’s roadmap includes AI-powered teams for customer support, financial reconciliation, client onboarding, and claims management. “The ultimate objective over the next five years is to provide the intelligent, automated workforces required to run an entire delivery operation automatically” Cornish added.