Mumbai/New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- Azim Qureshi's story is hardly unique. It is the story of millions of people who run small and mid-sized businesses across India.

Qureshi, 54, runs a kirana store in Delhi, an operation that requires moving his stock on time everyday, across multiple tranches. Until a few years ago, he relied on a chaotic network of local fleet operators, with varying degrees of success and frustration.

"Sometimes they showed up, sometimes they didn't. Halfway through a delivery, they'd call saying the vehicle broke down, or suddenly, hike the price," he said.

One day, help arrived on a smartphone, brought to him by his 24-year-old son. He introduced the senior Qureshi to Porter, a company now known for intra-city logistic...