Brazil startup dares to deliver to favelas

An employee of the Favela Brasil Express transport company drives a vehicle carrying packages that will be delivered to residents of the Paraisopolis favela, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. — AFP

SAO PAULO: Clapping their hands, ringing bells and yelling at the top of their lungs to find the right recipient, delivery workers for Brazilian start-up Favela Xpress dare to go where traditional companies won't: the slums.

The firm launched in April in Paraisopolis, Sao Paulo's second-biggest "favela," a sprawling shantytown of 100,000 people with a maze of impromptu streets and no official address system.