Lalamove targets Series B funding of $30m next year

Logistics service lalamove plans a major expansion and has a Series B funding goal of US$30 million (nearly Bt1.1 billion) in 2016 with the aim of boosting e-commerce.

Lalamove’s transaction value is close to Bt19 million and it has seen 20-per-cent growth in the last three months. It expects grow by five to 10 times in Bangkok next year.

Blake Larson, head of international for lalamove, said the company would seek Series B funding in the first half of 2016, possibly including Thai investors. 

In Thailand, it will invest in a more streamlined local service to drive the market through the network effect of delivery volume. Around 50 per cent of new business is from referrals. This cuts its customer-acquisition costs, allowing it to invest in quality service and of course technology, which is the backbone of its business, he said.

“With costs of last-mile delivery adding on average 20 per cent on to product prices, big-brand corporates are interested in lalamove too. Ikea in Singapore recently partnered with lalamove with an in-store kiosk. In Hong Kong, lalamove recently partnered with Google, delivering the Nexus 5X and 6P phones for the first time in Asia,” Larson said.

The swift success of localised delivery in Thailand after just one year is set to become a blueprint for lalamove expansion across cities within the Asean region and beyond.

“The successful of lalamove in Thailand is because there is a lot of local fragmentation in logistics in Southeast Asia. Add the growth of e-commerce in Thailand, fast-growing mobile penetration and demand for same-day delivery and there is a real need to consolidate that supply chain,” he said. “This supports existing and emerging small and medium enterprises and bigger corporates with value-added benefits whilst satisfying consumer delivery demands.” 

Currently, lalamove is active in 15 cities and has 455,000 users and more than 30,000 drivers in the region, achieving 2 million deliveries with a total transaction value of around $20 million.

Bangkok has been its best market in terms of volume, with close to 30,000 downloads of the lalamove app in the city and a few thousand drivers.