A Royal Mail post box is seen in central London July 11, 2014.
A Royal Mail post box is seen in central London July 11, 2014. Britain's biggest privatisation in years was blighted by a fear of failure and poor advice from state-appointed banks, a committee of lawmakers said on Friday following an inquiry into the 2 billion pound ($3.4 billion) sale of Royal Mail. Reuters/Neil Hall

Marking a major diversification from its conventional business of postal services, Australia Post has announced the launch of an investment fund and use of drones for parcel delivery.

Accordingly, Australia Post will invest $20 million to mentor e-commerce start ups in partnership with Melbourne University. The investment funds will be managed under the Melbourne Accelerator Program.

The preferred segments for funding will be shopping, deliveries, communications, payments and transactions. Eligible start up applicants will receive $20,000 in funding and office space, reports Startup Smart.

According to Australia Post’s managing director and group CEO Ahmed Fahour, the fund will scale up to more than $100 million in the coming years.

“I’m very proud to announce that our Board has recently allocated an initial $20 million towards our e-commerce Innovation Capital Fund,” he said. The project will scout for investing in tangible commercial venture opportunities in the ecommerce market.

Fund manager

However, the CEO said Australia Post will carefully vet the ideas for “real commercial potential” before co-investing in them.

“Over time, a handful of these opportunities will be accelerated; scaled for growth; and some will be folded back into the core of business while others will leave to take on the world,” Fahour noted.

On drone-based delivery, Fahour told the Australian Financial Review that Australia Post does not think drones are mere gimmicks. According to the CEO, the trial of parcel deliveries using drones will start in 2016 and testing of deliveries is already on.

“We've been talking to a major customer, an e-tailer, who would like to particularly deliver to regional and rural communities," Fahour said.

MyPost

Meanwhile, Australia Post made tangible progress in turning anonymous transactions of walk in customers into productive relationships. In an effort to know the customers, it launched MyPost in 2013 for bringing together various services under a unified brand.

According to Australia Post’s general manager for small business, Dirk van Lammeren, MyPost became the perfect response to customer interest in personalised services.

“We have shifted from delivering to addresses much more to delivering to people,” he said.

He said the transition had been from products to experiences. MyPost has already attracted more than 2.5 million registered customers, who are using MyPost to access services such as Australia Post’s concession program, flexible delivery service and electronic mailbox, reports CMO News.

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