Singapore-headquartered delivery services provider Ninja Van received $578m in a series E round featuring e-commerce group Alibaba and logistics services firm GeoPost’s DPD Group subsidiary.
B Capital Group, the venture capital firm backed by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, also took part in the round, as did VC firm Monk’s Hill Ventures and Zamrud, a Bruneian sovereign wealth fund.
The deal helped lift the company’s valuation above the $1bn mark and came before a possible initial public offering next year, sources privy to the matter told Bloomberg.
Founded in 2014, Ninja Van has built a Southeast Asia-focused e-commerce order fulfilment services platform covering markets including its home country, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
GeoPost had led a $279m series D round for the company in May 2020 that was initially reported to be led by Zamrud and sized at $124m the month before.
Zamrud was joined by navigation technology provider Carmenta, ride hailing portal Grab and telecommunications group Intouch Holdings in addition to B Capital, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund and two unnamed state-owned vehicles.
DPD Group had participated in a reported $87m series C round for Ninja Van in 2018 at a $235m valuation. YJ Capital, a vehicle for internet company Yahoo Japan now reorganised under internet technology group Z Holdings unit Z Venture Capital, took part in a $30m series B round two years earlier.
The 2016 round was led by Abraaj Group and backed by B Capital and Monk’s Hill Ventures, after the latter had co-led a $2.5m series A round in 2015 with conglomerate Insas.
Kenny Ho, Alibaba Group’s head of investment for Southeast Asia, said: “With Ninja Van’s vast presence and extensive local insights in the [Southeast Asia] 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.”
Image courtesy of Ninja Van.
