on-demand delivery
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On-demand logistics company Lalamove gets $515 million Series E
Lalamove will extend its network to cover more small Chinese cities after raising $515 million in Series E funding, the on-demand logistics company announced on its site. The round was led by Sequoia Capital China, with participation from Hillhouse Capital and Shunwei Capital. All three are returning investors.
According to Crunchbase data, this brings Lalamove’s total raised so far to about $976.5 million. The company’s last funding announcement was in February 2019, when it hit unicorn status with a Series D of $300 million.
Bloomberg reported last week that Lalamove was seeking at least $500 million in new funding at $8 billion valuation, or four times what it raised last year.
Founded in 2013 for on-demand deliveries within the same city, Lalamove has since grown its business to include freight services, enterprise logistics, moving and vehicle rental. In addition to 352 cities in mainland China, Lalamove also operates in Hong Kong (where it launched), Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand. The company entered the United States for the first time in October, and currently claims about 480,000 monthly active drivers and 7.2 million monthly active users.
Part of its Series D had been earmarked to expand into India, but Lalamove was among 43 apps that were banned by the government, citing cybersecurity concerns.
In its announcement, Lalamove CEO Shing Chow said its Series E will be used to enter more fourth and fifth-tier Chinese cities, adding “we believe the mobile internet’s transformation of China’s logistics industry is far from over.”
Other companies that have recently raised significant funding rounds for their logistics operations in China include Manbang and YTO.
Lalamove’s (known in Chinese as Huolala) Series E announcement said the company experienced a 93% drop in shipment volume at the beginning of the year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has experienced a strong rebound, with order volume up 82% year-over-year even before Double 11.
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BloomThat pauses on-demand flower services
Following an acquisition by FTD Companies earlier this year for a reportedly small amount of cash, on-demand flower service BloomThat is pausing its services as it works “to figure out how to best integrate BloomThat as part of the FTD portfolio of brands,” the founders wrote to its customers a few days ago.
“Before we go, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of our loyal bloomers,” the founders wrote. “Over the last five years, you’ve brightened many lives with a simple, thoughtful gesture. Thank you for entrusting us with your most important moments – we’re honored to have been a part of a truly special movement.”
In February 2016, BloomThat launched its flower delivery service nationwide. But instead of offering delivery within a couple of hours, BloomThat guaranteed next-day delivery, which effectively moved the startup into the territory of 1-800-FLOWERS and FTD.
BloomThat will continue to fulfill orders through September 28, 2018. Those who are interested in continuing to buy flowers after the end of this month are being directed to FTD or ProFlowers.com.
Prior to the acquisition, BloomThat had raised $7.5 million from investors like Rothenberg Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Sherpa Capital and others, with the most recent round in April 2015.
I’ve reached out to BloomThat and will update this story if I hear back.
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Rappi raises $200M as Latin American tech investment reaches new highs
Rappi, the Colombian on-demand delivery startup, has brought in a new round of funding at a valuation north of $1 billion, as first reported by Axios and confirmed to TechCrunch by a source close to the company. DST Global has led the more than $200 million financing, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia — all of which were existing investors in the company.
Rappi kicked off its business delivering beverages and has since expanded into meals, groceries and even tech and medicine. You can, for example, have a pair of AirPods delivered to you using Rappi’s app. The company also has a popular cash withdrawal feature that allows users to pay with credit cards and then receive cash from one of Rappi’s delivery agents.
Rappi charges $1 per delivery. To help keep costs efficient, the company’s fleet of couriers use only motorcycles and bikes.
Simón Borrero, Sebastian Mejia and Felipe Villamarin launched the company in 2015, graduating from Y Combinator the following year. From there, Rappi quickly captured the attention of American venture capitalists. A16z’s initial investment in July 2016 was the Silicon Valley firm’s first investment in Latin America.
The new capital will likely be used to help Rappi compete with Uber Eats, which is active across Latin America.
The round for Rappi is notable for a Latin American company, as is its new unicorn status. Only one other Latin American startup, Nubank, has surpassed a billion-dollar valuation with new venture capital funding so far in 2018. São Paulo-based Nubank makes a no-fee credit card and is also backed by DST.
Investment in Latin American tech continues to reach new highs. In the first quarter of 2018, more than $600 million was invested. That followed a record 2017, which was the first time VCs funneled more than $1 billion into the continent’s tech ecosystem during a 12-month period.
The rise in investment is mostly due to sizable fundings for companies like Rappi and Nubank, as well as Brazil-based 99, which sold to fellow ride-hailing business Didi Chuxing in a deal worth $1 billion earlier this year.
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Shujaa Delivery aims to compete with Aramax, DHL and others
Quiqup, a London-based on-demand delivery startup, raises £20M Series B
Quiqup, a London-based delivery startup that operates a “shop on your behalf” app similar to Jinn in Europe or Postmates in the U.S., in addition to a growing B2B business, has raised £20 million in Series B funding. Leading the round is Jobi Capital, a New York-based fund, with participation from Transmed, a leading distributor of fast-moving consumer goods, and existing investors. Read More
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Deliveroo drivers hold protest in London over possible changes to the way they are paid
Just days after Deliveroo, a popular on-demand restaurant food delivery startup in Europe, announced that it had raised another $275 million in funding, a number of the startup’s self-employed couriers in London have been holding a protest over possible changes to the way they are paid. Read More
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WunWun founder Lee Hnetinka launches Darkstore, an on-demand delivery fulfillment platform
Last May, Lee Hnetinka shut down his on-demand delivery service WunWun, which was a direct a competitor to Postmates, and then sold the company’s assets to Alfred, a TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014 Battlefield alum. Fast forward to today and Hnetinka has teamed up with JustVacay founder Wilson Lee to launch Darkstore, a delivery fulfillment platform for e-commerce brands that is… Read More
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Onfleet Has Powered Over 1 Million On-Demand Deliveries
Onfleet, the company that provides infrastructure for on-demand delivery, recently powered its one millionth delivery. More than half of those deliveries occurred within the last four months, Onfleet CEO Kahled Naim told TechCrunch. Onfleet powers deliveries and logistics for companies like HelloFresh, Meadow, Doughbies, Lugg and others. To be clear, Onfleet does not provide the drivers… Read More
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7 On-Demand Delivery Startups In London
We count 7 on-demand delivery startups currently battling it out in London (although there are doubtless more) as entrepreneurs and VCs make big bets on smartphone-driven convenience and the promise of getting you food or just about anything delivered to your door within minutes. Read More
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Full Stack Music: 1 Trillion Streams, 200 Million Tickets
At present, there are three distinct music industries: radio, on-demand music, and concert ticketing. However, we are starting to enter a new phase, where these industries will converge and produce one integrated experience for artists and fans. I’ve taken to calling this full stack music, because at heart it speaks to a holistic experience that integrates these industries through data. Read More
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