Full Truck Alliance, the China-based trucking services marketplace also known as Manbang Group, has begun talks with investors including corporates Tencent and SoftBank to raise up to $1bn, Bloomberg reported today.
The negotiations with telecommunications firm SoftBank and internet group Tencent are in advanced stages and the round is likely to value Manbang at $9bn, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Formed by the merger of trucking services providers Huochebang and Yunmanman in November 2017, Manbang runs a platform that enables shippers to book space on trucks, with cargo and routes calculated by the company according to efficiency.
Manbang generates revenues through subscription fees from shipping customers as well as a percentage of driver revenue and adjacent services for drivers that include refuelling.
The forthcoming funding is set to be raised as Manbang looks to begin working with autonomous trucks. It recently provided an undisclosed amount of funding for US-based autonomous driving technology startup PlusAI, a source told Bloomberg.
The company last raised funding in a $1.9bn round in April this year that included Tencent, the $97.7bn SoftBank-managed Vision Fund and CapitalG, part of internet technology group Alphabet, as well as GSR Ventures, China Reform Fund, Ward Ferry and Sequoia Capital.
The April round valued Manbang at $6.5bn according to Bloomberg, and increased the total raised by the company to more than $2.43bn, including the capital raised pre-merger.
The increase in valuation is steep but Manbang is looking to leverage a projected RMB13bn ($1.9bn) in revenue for 2018, according to one source.
Tencent was one of the investors that supplied more than $260m for Huochebang, as were Baidu Capital, a subsidiary of internet group Baidu, All-Stars Investment, Genesis Capital, DCM Ventures, International Finance Corporation and Zhongding Capital.
Yunmanman had received at least $275m in funding from an investor base that included Sequoia Capital China, Yunfeng Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tiger Management.
