Pickupp, a Hong kong-based on-demand delivery startup with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan, announced today that it has closed its ~US$15 million in Series A and Series A+ financing round from a group of regional strategic investors.
The Series A+ round was led by Taiwan e-commerce giant PChome and Cornerstone Ventures. They were joined by existing investor Swire Properties, and new investors including Cathay Venture, DRIVE Catalyst (the corporate venture arm of Far Eastern Group) from Taiwan, and the Jardine Matheson Group and Zipx from Hong Kong.
The Series A funding process commenced in November 2020 and came from Vision+ Capital, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Cyberport Macro Fund, Swire Properties New Ventures and SparkLabs Taipei.
Also Read: Pickupp snags Series A funding to expand last-mile logistics platform in Southeast Asia
Pickupp will use the fresh injection of funds to accelerate its expansion in Taiwan and deepen its presence in existing markets. It also plans to add at least 10 more dispatch points in Singapore within the next 12 months. Besides enabling to cope with growing demand in Singapore, the additional points would also help the startup utilise its walker network more.
A part of the funds raised will also go into building new strategic partnerships to enhance its digital offerings across Shop On Pickupp, a one-stop e-commerce platform offering all-rounded payment and tech-enabled delivery solutions for businesses in 2020.
“The pandemic has triggered a seismic shift in consumer behaviour, it has led to droves of retailers moving their business online and scaling up their digital presence to meet the surging demand. Over the past year, we’ve seen more retailers looking for reliable, flexible, and faster delivery solutions,” said Crystal Pang, Co-founder and CEO of Pickupp. “This round of funding will help us to fuel our expansion in Taiwan and other markets, as well as diversify our product portfolio and offerings based on the needs of each market.”
“Through our tech-driven solutions and services, we will be able to significantly enhance the support we provide to SMEs and help them to meet the growing demand of the digital economy,” Crystal added.
Founded in 2016, Pickupp provides flexible, tech-driven logistics solutions. Through its “highly optimised” batching and chaining technology, customers can book a delivery anytime, while real-time GPS tracking provides end-to-end transparency.
Pickupp claims it provides logistics support to 20,000-plus businesses — spanning MNCs, logistics giants as well as retail and e-commerce — across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan. It also has a team of over 100,000 delivery agents across all these cities.
Lee Chee Meng, Co-COO at Pickupp Singapore, said: “We have seen a 20 per cent increase in the demand for Pickupp’s express deliveries in Singapore just over the last month. The support we receive from our investors is timely and beneficial as it enables us to grow our satellite dispatch network across the country, minimising the travelling distance for our agents to support faster and more efficient last-mile deliveries for our customers.”
Also Read: Hong Kong startup Pickupp raises funding from Alibaba, Spark Ventures, Axis Capital
To date, Pickupp claims its user base has grown by 250 per cent since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, with over 100,000 delivery agents onboard across all regions. The startup has become a platform of choice, as the last mile for MNCs and the first step for startups and SMEs.
In December 2018, Pickupp had bagged an undisclosed sum in pre-Series A, led by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
In a new forecast by Forrester, online retail sales in the Asia Pacific region will grow from US$1.5 trillion in 2019 to US$2.5 trillion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3 per cent.
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Image Credit: Pickupp
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