Urbanfetch

{{Infobox company

| founded = {{start date and age|1999}}

| defunct = {{end date|2000}}

| founder = Ross StevensClay Shirky. {{cite web | title=Why Kozmo and Urbanfetch Couldn't Deliver the Goods | website=The Wall Street Journal | date=October 16, 2000 | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB971649019767591358 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20210728100951/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB971649019767591358 | archive-date=2021-07-28 | url-status=live }}

| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20000302132920/http://www.urbanfetch.com/ www.urbanfetch.com]

}}

Urbanfetch, founded in 1999 and closed in 2000,{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/business-30442712|title=Location services: How GPS delivery is changing shopping|author=Padraig Belton|date=December 23, 2014|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=June 19, 2018}} was a dot-com company from which customers ordered products (DVDs, music, books, snacks, gifts, etc.) online and had them delivered by bike messenger in less than an hour within certain delivery areas covering most of Manhattan and London.

The company's business plan was essentially identical to that of Kozmo.com, which led to a lawsuit from them. Apparently, Urbanfetch founder Ross Stevens had been approached to fund Kozmo but instead launched a competing business with an identical business model."Putting Kozmo to the Test," June Kim and Sarah Lorge, SmartMoney, March 29, 2000 The suit was settled in December 1999.{{cite web|url= https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kozmo.com+and+UrbanFetch.com+settle+recent+Lawsuit.-a058163940|title=Kozmo.com and UrbanFetch.com settle recent Lawsuit|date=December 13, 1999|publisher=Business Wire|via=thefreelibrary.com|accessdate=June 19, 2018}}

Like Kozmo, Urbanfetch charged no delivery fee and sometimes offered significant discounts. It also gave away T-shirts and hats with each order when it first launched and provided warm cookies with each order.{{cite news|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/02/13/has-our-delivery-culture-gotten-out-of-hand/|title=Has Our Delivery Culture Gotten Out of Hand?|author=Jaya Saxena|date=February 13, 2018|publisher=The Village Voice|accessdate=June 19, 2018}} It ceased operations in October 2000.{{cite news|first=Greg|last =Sandoval|title=Urbanfetch to stop delivering goods to consumers|date=October 12, 2000|publisher=CNET|url =http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-246968.html|accessdate=June 19, 2018}} Its corporate delivery division was sold to Urban Express, a traditional courier service.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2001/08/02/0802urban.html|title=From Real To Surreal And Back Again|author=Dan Ackman|date=August 2, 2001|work=Forbes|accessdate=June 19, 2018}}

Urbanfetch became somewhat of a joke after an episode of The Daily Show parodied its business model to the Post Office.September 07, 2011 - Dr. Sanjay Gupta Views: 266,087 Aired: 09/07/11 Episode 16112

Schmitt and Brown in their Build Your Own Garage (2010) conclude that the company “was buzz only and lacked a rigorous business model”.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/buildyourowngara0000schm|url-access= registration|title=Build Your Own Garage: Blueprints and Tools to Unleash Your Company's Hidden Creativity|last1=Schmitt|first1=Bernd H.|last2=Brown|first2=Laura|publisher=The Free Press|isbn=978-0-7432-0260-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/buildyourowngara0000schm/page/56 56]|year=2010|via=Internet Archive}}