Singapore’s logistics startup Ninja Van enters the unicorn club after raising $578 million

Ninja Van, a Singapore-based logistics startup is the latest entrant in the unicorn club after it raised $578 million from Chinese ecommerce giant, Alibaba Group.

Existing investors B Capital Group (a venture capital firm by Facebook), DPDgroup/GeoGroup (a European parcel delivery company), along with Zamrud (Brunei’s Sovereign Wealth Fund), and Monk’s Hill Ventures also participated in the funding round.

Lai Chang Wen, co-founder and CEO of Ninja Van Group, said in a statement, “The quality of investors joining us in this round of investment is a clear signal that the market recognizes the emerging opportunities for e-commerce logistics in Southeast Asia and how as an entrenched player in the region, Ninja Van is positioned to take a central role in meeting the shifting demands of both businesses and consumers,”

According to data from Venture Capital insights, this is Ninja Van’s largest funding since its inception. Last year, amidst the pandemic in April 2020, the startup had raised $279 million taking its valuation to $780 million. With the new funding taking the startup’s valuation to over $1 billion, it plans to go public by next year, as per a report in Bloomberg.

Ninja Van will be using the fresh funding to build up its technology and infrastructure platforms together with micro supply chain solutions to augment ecommerce opportunities in SE Asia.

According to Mr. Kenny Ho, head of Investment for Southeast Asia, Alibaba Group. “We strongly believe in the potential of e-commerce in Southeast Asia, in particular the power of technology-enabled logistics to fuel e-commerce growth. With Ninja Van’s vast presence and extensive local insights in the region, we are confident that our partnership with Ninja Van would enable us to better serve participants in the e-commerce ecosystem across the region.”

About Ninja Van

Founded in 2014 by Lai Chang Wen, Shaun Cong, and Boxian Tan, Ninja Van solves the last mile issues through a multitude of strategic tie-ups and leading-edge technology via their distributive and reactive systems.

Since its inception, the company has become one of the fastest-growing tech-enabled logistics companies in the region with more than 1.5 million active shippers and about 100 million recipients. The logistics startup delivers approximately 2 million parcels per day.

Besides Singapore, the startup operates its business in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Ninja Van presently employs over 61,000 employees including staff and delivery personnel.