Fifteen percent of global carbon dioxide emissions come from road transport. According to data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, delivery companies in Budapest alone deliver an average of 150,000 parcels a day using various vehicles, and during the Christmas period this number can rise to as many as 500,000 deliveries. Based on the founders’ calculations, TourMix’s model — which involves pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders acting as couriers — could reduce emissions by 0.5 kg per parcel, amounting to 75 tons of carbon-dioxide savings per day. 

The idea developed by Corvinus alumnus Bagdy Márk and his partner András Zoltán Márky relies on the sharing-economy approach, meaning it pairs people’s natural movement around the city with the delivery routes of parcels. 

“Our app allows people to earn extra income in a way that fits their lifestyle — and at the same time, the courier is doing something good,” they explain in one of their introductory videos. 

Their model is perhaps closest to Uber’s, with the key difference that couriers registered with them deliver packages instead of passengers. They don’t employ couriers full-time; the system is more suitable as a supplementary income source for those who want to deliver — or, as they call it, ‘mixerkedni’. It’s the courier who chooses the delivery location and coordinates the handover time with the recipient. TourMix is very much a Gen-Z startup in another sense as well: in order to ease their climate anxiety, couriers can even decide not to accept payment and instead act out of charity for a more sustainable future. 

Anyone who wants to learn more about the business model behind the TourMix startup should check out the Forbes article on the company.