Singapore-based Ninja Van recently became one of South East Asia’s best funded startups when it raised USD 279 million in Series D funding round amid COVID-19. Launched in 2014, Ninja Van to date has become the region’s largest and fastest-growing last-mile logistics company, with a network covering six countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Including this round, the company has raised a total of USD 400 million of funding.
Participants in this latest financing round for Ninja Van included GeoPost, B Capital Group, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Carmenta, Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund, Intouch Holding, Grab, and two sovereign wealth funds.
With the new capital injection, Ninja Van will continue to provide value-added services to small and medium-sized enterprises and direct-to-consumer brands in the region. The company also has plans to handle deliveries of merchandise for smaller merchants such as social media influencers. Additionally, the startup will further develop its business-to-business (B2B) segment. Ninja Van currently works with e-commerce firms such as Alibaba’s Lazada, Indonesia’s Tokopedia, and Sea Ltd’s Shopee. It employs around 30,000 people, including around 20,000 full-time drivers and handles around more than one million parcels daily.
Imposition of varying levels of lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had led to growth in the usage of e-commerce services in the region, though the platforms have struggled to meet the surge in demand. The safety measures have created logistics and operational challenges.
(Sources: Bloomberg, The Straights Times)
