Mohali startup takes international courier services to villages

“If you want to courier anything to a city, you can go to existing companies,” says Harinder. “But if you want to deliver anything to any village, you only have India Post and it takes ages. We wanted to bridge that gap.”

Expansion and the model

The founders began with 20–30 booking points around Mohali before moving into Bathinda in 2021. There they tapped into a sizeable reverse flow: families in nearby villages sending parcels to relatives overseas. Countryside’s system lets an authorised village agent perform the booking and handover; customers then receive a tracking ID within three to seven working days, depending on the service.
Operating on a hub-and-spoke model, the company uses regional hubs to consolidate and route parcels to domestic and international partners. Harinder says the network now spans “200 plus points,” reflecting steady growth since inception.

COVID-19 response

The start-up played a crucial role during the pandemic. Countryside Express helped deliver essential medical equipment at the peak of COVID-19, ensuring supplies reached critical locations despite transport restrictions. “That time was very challenging, but we made sure the equipment reached on time,” Harinder recalls.

Seed funding and growth

The venture is backed by a mix of government and private capital. Countryside Express is a recipient of the Startup India Seed Fund (SASF) and has also raised private equity and convertible ventures tied to the scheme. The pair started out with about ₹80,000 and local knowledge of Mohali, which helped them find affordable office space and manage early logistics.

Why Mohali?

For Harinder, Mohali was an obvious choice. “We live in Mohali,” he said, pointing to the hometown advantage, familiarity and cost benefits that shaped early decisions and enabled deliberate scaling.

Challenges and hiring

Harinder acknowledges that visibility in the logistics market is a challenge. Larger businesses, he noted, dominate public spaces and marketing with deep-pocket promotions. For a start-up like Countryside, making its presence felt in such an environment is far from easy.

On recruitment, the company looks for people who can grow with the business and understand the operational realities of running a rural logistics network. Harinder emphasised planning — short-term experiments, two- and five-year roadmaps — while remaining open to course corrections.

Advice to entrepreneurs

His advice to founders is straightforward: “Just start.” He encourages young entrepreneurs to make use of incubation programmes and accelerator courses — citing IM Punjab and other local support systems — and to be prepared for unexpected turns. “You make a lot of plans… but in between you have to take some divergence. It comes with the flow,” he says.

Life outside work

The cofounders also follow a personal rule: “Don’t take anyone seriously at 6 o’clock.” After that, they wind down, keeping business stress out of home life. Driving, Harinder adds, has become both a hobby and a form of self-healing: “Our hobby has become a business,” he says with a smile.

Looking ahead

Their priority now is consolidating the network and expanding the convenience their village drop-off model brings.