Ninja Van, One Of Southeast Asia’s Fastest Growing Logistics Companies, Weighs IPO

Ninja Van, a tech-enabled express logistics company that provides delivery services across Southeast Asia, is considering an initial public offering as early as next year, a Financial Times report revealed on Sunday.

Chang Wen Lai, one of the company’s co-founders, told Financial Times the Singapore-based startup is “a year away” from an IPO.

FT cited two sources familiar with Ninja VAn’s plans saying that the company had approached advisers to start discussions on a listing, most likely in the US.

Ninja Van has yet to disclose its valuation but it was reported it had passed $1 billion following its $279 million funding round in 2020. The company is almost break-even and targeting profitability next year. The startup posted a US$84.1 million loss in 2019, on the back of US$149.3 million in revenue, according to data from VentureCap.

Launched in 2014, the startup’s incredible growth in revenue and delivery volumes surged as businesses and customers turned to express deliveries in the midst of social distancing restrictions and border closures in Southeast Asia. 

From the 1.5 million parcels it delivered in May 2020, Ninja Van’s daily shipments reached 1.7 million this month. Its services extend to the most remote villages in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The only last-mile courier with 100% service coverage in the region, Ninja Van employs more than 34,000 people and manages 1,800 sorting stations.

Ninja Van hopes to distinguish itself through its extensive delivery networks. Lai said the company’s couriers can deliver to Southeast Asia’s most remote regions, which most competitors cannot access on a large scale, writes Financial Times.

The logistics company arrived in Vietnam in March 2018, entering a considerably competitive market.

“[Vietnam’s booming e-commerce] presents a huge opportunity for us to offer e-commerce retailers and online sellers in Vietnam access to Ninja Van’s fully integrated and customizable system, ensuring packages reach their customers on time. As our tagline states, we aim to ‘take the hassle out of the parcel’, making logistics fuss-free so our customers can focus on their business,” said Dzung Phan, Country Head of Ninja Van Vietnam, during its official launch.

To widen its e-commerce clients and customer reach, Ninja Van established solid partnerships with Lazada, Sendo and Tiki, offering sellers on the platforms access to a proprietary delivery management system which allows them to book and manage all their delivery needs, reserve pick-up time slots and monitor shipments.

In 2019, Ninja Van inked a partnership with multi-service super app Grab to offer small and medium sellers and social e-commerce both convenience and greater reach. Their strategic cooperation enabled users to ship parcels anywhere in Vietnam from within the Grab app and enjoy a hassle-free delivery experience through Ninja Van’s nationwide logistics network.