Fueling Global Growth: How FedEx Empowers Small Businesses Through Innovation, Collaboration, and Support

Originally published in FedEx's 2024 Global Economic Impact Report

Empowering small businesses around the world

Throughout its history, FedEx has been an integral part of the small- and medium-sized business (SAM) sector. The extensive FedEx network is both a vital part of the global small business supply chain and a key distribution network for those companies. At the same time, FedEx directly contributes to the growth of smaller companies through its annual spending. In CY 2023, 90% of FedEx suppliers were classified as small business, and FedEx spending with those companies supported approximately 400,000 jobs at small businesses around the world.

FedEx designs its services to help businesses accelerate their growth and extend their global reach, which in turn supports local job creation and economic activity.

In FY 2024, FedEx continued to enhance its portfolio of SAM-focused services, including:

• Offering discounted packaging services and domestic/international shipping to smaller companies around the world.
• Partnering with leading e-commerce and brick-and-mortar companies to extend the reach of the FedEx network, such as adding third-party pick-up and drop-off locations to help smaller e-commerce companies better serve their customers. Notable collaborations include:
  • The expansion of self-collection points for import shipments at GS25 convenience stores across South Korea;
  • Offering FedEx services at 1,100 outlets in collaboration with 2GO, SM Business Centers, and Alfamart in the Philippines;
  • Launching more than 1,200 selfcollection lockers at Manila Metro stations in collaboration with Airspeed;
  • And creating over 4,000 collection points across Poland in collaboration with nine major retailers.
     
• Forming alliances with private enterprises and government authorities to streamline importing and exporting. Notable collaborations include:
  • An alliance between FedEx in Korea and eBay CBT (Cross Border Trade) that provides cross-border e-commerce logistics services for Korean businesses expanding internationally;
  • An alliance with the Gyeongsangbukdo provincial government in Korea to support local businesses expand their presence into global markets;
  • A collaboration with Mastercard and VISA in Thailand to empower global expansion for local SAMs;
  • An alliance with Zonos in Europe that combines Zonos’ cross-border technology with the FedEx network to expedite cross-border shipments for SAMs by allowing shoppers to prepay all customs duties, taxes, and fees at checkout.
     
• Creating more shipping options for smaller businesses, such as the introduction of Regional EconomyServices in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan, which offers cost-effective deferred day-definite road solutions for less urgent shipments transported within these key Middle East markets.
• Providing an extensive range of educational resources to help small businesses grow their operations, including how-to guides and articles on FedEx Small Business Hub websites; panel discussions and training sessions at industry events; the FedEx E-Commerce Learning Lab in partnership with Accion Opportunity Fund to help small businesses get started in shipping; the “Making it Work” podcast that features business advice from successful entrepreneurs; and the “Journey of Small Business Success with FedEx” YouTube channel, which highlights growth stories from real customers.
• Creating the FedEx Innovation Lab (FIL) in India, which makes early-stage investments in digital startups that are developing technologies for smarter, more efficient supply chains. The FIL’s first investment was in Mad Street Den, a computer vision and AI company that has earned a reputation for delivering innovative AI solutions. The start-up’s AI platform enables operations, product and technology teams to improve and optimize efficiencies. Their products are deployed across several industries, including retail, healthcare, finance, insurance, logistics, and more.
• Empowering small businesses through the “SME Connect” series to interact with subject matter experts from FedEx and the industry for solution-focused discussions that can add value to their businesses.

To further strengthen the global SAM community, FedEx launched its Small Business Grant Program 12 years ago to recognize innovative entrepreneurs and provide funding to help accelerate their growth. Since then, FedEx has offered versions of the program in the U.S., Canada, LAC, and APAC, and in FY 2024 awarded over $1 million in prizes to more than 60 companies.

• In the U.S., 10 companies received a total of over $230,000 in cash and prizes. The $50,000 grand prize winner was Bombi, an eco-conscious stroller company that incorporates 50 recycled plastic bottles in its stroller fabric, uses no-single-use plastics in their packaging, and donates to foundations for every stroller sold.
• In Canada, 16 winners received a total of $150,000 in cash prizes, including The Original Maple Bat Company, which sells custom maple baseball bats all over the world and received the grand prize of $25,000.
• In LAC, 33 companies from seven countries received more than $575,000. Winners included Chilean brewery Cerveza Atrapaniebla, which produces craft beer using water droplets collected from fog; Brazilian clothing company Equal Moda Inclusiva, which produces conventional and adapted items for people with various types of disabilities; and Mexican company Suul, which offers an alternative to traditional detergent to reduce plastic pollution.
• In APAC, four companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore shared a total prize pool of $69,000. The $30,000 grand prize winner was Lucence, a precision oncology start-up from Singapore that is developing non-invasive tests that aim to accurately diagnose cancer.

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