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Singaporean parcel delivery firm Ninja Van raises US$279 million after coronavirus e-commerce surge
- The Covid-19 pandemic has driven a surge in online shopping among people sheltering in place
- Ninja Van’s latest round of fundraising brings its total capital raised to roughly US$400 million
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Singapore’s Ninja Van has raised US$279 million from investors including France’s GeoPost and ride-hailing giant Grab Holdings, one of the few start-ups to score new funding since Covid-19 chilled deal activity.
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group and Monk’s Hill Ventures joined Grab in the parcel delivery firm’s Series D round, completed after the pandemic drove a surge in online shopping among people sheltering in place. It brings Ninja Van’s total capital raised to roughly US$400 million.
Ninja Van, which helps e-commerce clients deliver more than a million packages daily across six Southeast Asian countries, is benefiting from a spike in orders even while coping with the economic fallout of coronavirus lockdowns.
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Dozens of regional start-ups have shed jobs, while others like Oyo and Grab are furloughing workers or asking them to take unpaid leave. Ninja Van’s fundraising surpassed a US$200 million target set about a year ago, according to chief executive officer Lai Chang Wen.
The investor interest “shows that logistics is something which is around to stay,” Lai said in an interview. “Social distancing will have a profound effect. It may be an inflection point Southeast Asia needs for e-commerce.”
Lai, a 32-year-old former derivatives trader at Barclays, founded Ninja Van in 2014 with two friends, aiming to use technology to make the logistics market more efficient.
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