Ninja Van, the Singapore based logistics startup that specialises in express ecommerce delivery, has announced raising of a fresh $279 million round. Investors in the current round include Facebook co-founder Eduardo Savarin’s B Capital Group and ride hailing giant Grab. The round comes after a general surge in e-commerce activities globally, during the ongoing pandemic.
According to a statement, the funding round was led by French courier-delivery company GeoPostSA alongside two sovereign wealth funds. Other contributors include existing backers such as Monk’s Hill Ventures, and others such as Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund, Camenta and Intouch Holdings. Including this series D round, the logistics tech company has now raised to the north of $400 million in totality. Ninja Van has currently refused to disclose its valuation, but it is fair to assume that the company has reached unicorn status.
Ninja Van plans to use the investment to further its interventions in the business-to business sector while also growing its existing services. Chief Executive Lai Cheng Wen suggests that the capital infusion will help make the business profitable in some of the company’s markets. The business in its entirety requires more time to be “solidly profitable”. He added that the firm may do another round of funding before a sale or IPO.
The capital raise comes right after a spike in the amount of online shoppers due to the covid-19 pandemic. And with a rise in ecommerce orders, allied services, most notably logistics, have seen increased business as well.
Commenting on the effects of the pandemic, Lai said “social distancing will have a profound effect. It may be the inflection point Southeast Asia needs for e-commerce.”
Ninja Van currently claims to deliver more than a million packages daily to customers across Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand and Vietnam. It’s e-commerce partners include Alibaba’s Lazada, Shopee and Indonesia’s Tokopedia. The delivery firm employs a total of 30,000 people including 20,000 full-time drivers. The company was found by Lai six years ago along with two friends.
