“We aim to be the UK’s first major technology business, making Shutl a verb both in the UK and overseas,” says Shutl’s marketing boss Guy Westlake. “As a pure SaaS business, our service can be scaled globally wherever there are retailers and ground transportation providers. We believe the UK opportunity to be worth over £2.5bn, but still only five per cent of the £50bn global opportunity.”

We admire such chutzpah, and we also see facts to stack up the ambition. The new-generation logistics business recently secured $3.2m in equity investment from Notion Capital. This follows a $2m investment earlier in the year from UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Hummingbird Ventures and others.

In a nutshell, Shutl delivers goods ordered online to your house or desk within an hour or 90 minutes. It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Already launched with Argos, Maplin, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse, Coast, Laithwaites Wine and B&Q Tradepoint alongside a host of smaller retailers, the new round of funding will drive the business’ North American launch in 2013. Shutl aims to start with New York and San Francisco in Q1 2013. Phase two will see the service roll-out across ten additional North American cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, Montreal and Toronto.

Everybody Shutling…