Lalamove raises US$30m to fund expansion in China and Southeast Asia

Hong Kong logistics start-up Lalamove has raised US$30 million to expand across more cities in China and Southeast Asia, as the company readies for a potential public listing within the next three years.

Lalamove is an on-demand logistics service that was founded in Hong Kong in 2013. Like Uber, users can hail a delivery van to help with tasks like home moving by placing an order on the Lalamove app.

Lalamove’s latest funding round was led by Beijing venture capital firm Xianghe Capital. Participating investors include Blackhole Capital, MindWorks Ventures and Crystal Stream. The round takes Lalamove’s total funding to date to US$60 million.

Apart from Hong Kong, the start-up is currently operating in 40 Chinese cities, as well as Singapore, Manila, Bangkok and Taipei.

Lalamove hopes to expand to 60 more cities by the end of 2017, and operate in all “first-and second-tier cities and a number of economically viable third-tier cities in China, as well as major cities in Southeast Asia”, Lalamove chief executive Shing Chow said in a statement earlier this week. Chow founded Lalamove, previously known as Easyvan, in October 2013 at the age of 36.

“Logistics is a big market – a US$1.7 trillion market in China – and it accounts for up to 27 per cent of GDP for some countries in Southeast Asia. It is underpenetrated by mobile internet,” Chow said.