Pickupp secures US$20M in its Series A and A+ funding, adds Temasek-backed Reefknot as investor
- Written by Pickupp
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach[1] - 14 October 2021 -Pickupp[2], the on-demand delivery and tech startup redefining logistics, today announced that it has secured additional investments from Reefknot[3], a venture fund backed by Temasek Holdings and Kuehne + Nagel, bringing the total value from its series A and A+ funding to approximately US$20 million.
Pickupp has over 100,000 delivery agents across Asia and Singapore.
Along with funds from its initial series A+ round of funding in July 2021, Pickupp will be using the additional injection of funds from Reefknot to strengthen its operational efficiency to accommodate the growing use of online-to-offline (O2O) services in Singapore, along with the other markets that Pickupp operates in - Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. The funds will enable Pickupp to strengthen its dispatch network with the expansion of new satellite warehouses across different markets. It will go on to further support innovation and developments in Pickupp's technology to enhance the capabilities and cost-savings of its existing products and introduce new services to meet the evolving demand for last-mile deliveries.
"The e-commerce and last-mile delivery landscape is growing at a fast pace in Singapore, with sales from year-end promotions and delivery orders expected to reach record highs in the coming months," said Lee Chee Meng, Co-Chief Operating Officer at Pickupp Singapore. "We pride ourselves as an innovative logistics technology company, and with the support of our investors, we aim to further the momentum in improving our technology and offerings in the coming years. We also will continue to invest in the welfare of our delivery partners for them to grow in a productive and conducive environment at Pickupp."
Pickupp will welcome at least 10 new satellite warehouses across heartland areas in Singapore within the next 6 months. The introduction of these new dispatch points coincides with Pickupp's push to increase its walker delivery agent pool to improve the efficiency of deliveries during peak traffic hours and decarbonise its operations with sustainable deliveries.
"Heavy road traffic and carbon emissions are major challenges for the logistics industry in today's day and age, and the spike in e-commerce and delivery orders will worsen the conditions if left ignored," said Lee. "Sustainability is a long-term goal of ours, and we aim to achieve net-zero operations in the years to come. Therefore, we are taking on a unique approach to tackle these challenges by building and improving our walker network."
To fulfil the changing delivery needs, Pickupp will be launching its new self-drop off service, which features next day deliveries, no minimum order, at affordable rates where small businesses, online marketplace users, and individuals can benefit from a wider range of options, as well as greater flexibility and convenience. They can simply create an order, drop off their parcel at any of Pickupp's dispatch points, and enjoy Pickupp's next day delivery service with real-time GPS tracking.
"We have seen an explosion of e-commerce activities from uptick in terms of year-on-year growth rates resulting from the pandemic. We also see new category players like Grocery chains and F&B rapidly rolling out e-commerce solutions to deliver better convenience to their customers. Traditional e-commerce logistics players are ill-equipped to address the rising demands of these new category players," said Ervin Lim, Vice President, Reefknot Investments. "Pickupp's technology and operational model allows for meaningful time compression at a cost efficient price which brings a unique value proposition to the entire e-commerce logistics landscape."
This investment is an extension of Pickupp's series A+ round funding, led by Taiwan e-commerce giant PChome and Cornerstone Ventures, with participation from an existing investor, Swire Properties, and new investors, including Cathay Venture Inc. and DRIVE Catalyst (the corporate venture arm of Far Eastern Group) from Taiwan, and the Jardine Matheson Group and Zipx from Hong Kong.
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Authors: Pickupp
