The App With A Courier On Every Corner

- Christine Jenkins Tanzi

In Bogotá’s busiest neighborhoods, the men with orange caps, bags, and the occasional vest or windbreaker stand on almost every corner. They work for Rappi, a two-year-old delivery startup that’s a mashup of Uber Eats, Instacart, and TaskRabbit. Summoned via smartphone, Rappi’s couriers deliver poke bowls, groceries, and even cash, running errands that include paying bills. Regular customers average more than four orders a week, and courier Israel Montes says demand is keeping him better paid than his old minimum-wage job. He delivers restaurant orders on his blue bicycle and has also been hired to give a massage and play video games. As he waits curbside near other couriers, Montes says, “All the time I’m seeing new faces, so many.”