Headed back to Territorial Hall at the University of Minnesota one November day he remembers being cold and snowy, Bharat Pulgam detoured to pick up a few things for three of his neighbors.
It sparked an idea.
“What if there was a way to do this on a bigger scale?” Pulgam said. “People are already doing this. [They say], ‘I’m out, does anyone need anything?’”
The idea led quickly to Runerra, an app designed to make it easy for neighbors to run errands for each other. When they launched the first version in the spring for students at the U to test, they had one goal in mind: Get into the Target + Techstars Retail Accelerator.
To get in, they knew they needed traction, Pulgam said. So they quickly designed the app and introduced it on campus to see if they could get the attention they’d need. In just under a month, 600 Runerra users logged 2,400 transactions worth $20,000.
It was enough to secure a place as one of 10 startups in this year’s accelerator class.
“We just knew how big of a deal it was to be a part of this program — the incredible validation it brings,” Pulgam said. “It’s a no-brainer for any company looking to be a disrupter in the retail space.”
Pulgam, who graduated from Wayzata High School in 2017, is already well-known in the Twin Cities tech scene. He hooked investors at the Catapult Incubator Program at the Chicago School of Business in 2015 when he pitched his first startup, mXers Audio, which sells customizable earbuds. Pulgam is still involved in the company even while he works full-time on his newest venture. He said mXers is working on a new line of products.
His second, a health-tech startup called Vitrose, got him into gener8tor's first gBETA Medtech program in the spring. That project went on the backburner when Pulgam found out Runerra would be part of the retail accelerator.
This time around, he’s working with the three friends from Territorial Hall, Sam Lerdahl, Josh Chang, and Neil Patel. All four Carlton School of Managements sophomores are taking a leave of absence while they’re in the accelerator, focusing on learning the discipline that will take them to a new level in their business.
“We don’t want to be the other student startup any more,” he said. “We really want to create that discipline, brand value, business model that we can go to an investor with and say we’re really ready to make it happen.”
The redesigned app is scheduled to launch at the U on September 25 with a way to pay the “runner” in the app. For the first couple of years, Runerra will focus on college and corporate campuses around the Twin Cities. While there’s no cost to use the app, Runerra will make a percentage, plus 50 cents off every tip paid to runners.
“When you’re heading out as a runner, you can say, ‘I’m heading out to Starbucks at 6 p.m. I can pick up four people’s stuff. If you want, you have to pay me my tip.”
Runners set tips themselves. It might be high on a blustery night in January but low when a lot of other users are out and about, willing to run errands.
Similar to other last mile delivery services like DoorDash or Postmates, the point is to give users the opportunity to work around going to the store, restaurant, pharmacy, or other destination themselves. Or even to avoid ordering online.
“We don't need either,” Pulgam said. “All these stores and warehouses have the same inventory. Why can’t we be more efficient and be more resourceful?”
