More than £1 million has been raised by a British firm that intends to test out its idea of creating a system to deliver products to people’s homes via underground tubing, according to Internet Retailing.

The small but ambitious start-up is hoping that with the backing of thousands of investors, secured through a crowd-funding site, it will be able to prove that it is possible to change the way that last-mile shipping is handled.

The intention is for Magway to install piping and the magnetically levitating capsules which will contain the products being delivered, a move which it hopes will eventually allow for less traffic to be generated by the growing popularity of safe shopping online.

This is not just about taking delivery vans off the roads and cutting down on congestion but also about making sure that the environmental impact of e-commerce is reduced. The magnetic system requires far less energy than traditional combustion vehicles, at least in principle, so it will be interesting to see whether this newly funded trial is able to prove the validity of Magway’s claims.

Company spokesperson Anna Daroy said that there had been an unprecedented amount of support for its funding efforts, especially amongst younger people looking to invest in what could be the next big thing for online shopping.

She said that Millennials and Gen-Z consumers were more attuned to the issues facing the climate at the moment as well as to the need to address air pollution in heavily populated urban environments, where delivery vans contribute significantly to this.

The first deployment of Magway’s trial will operate over limited distances, but there are plans to run piping along much greater routes within the next three years as long as this initial phase of development is a success.