Lalamove, a leading Asia-based same-day delivery & courier service provider and van hire platform, will seek new financing at a $10 billion (63.42 billion yuan) valuation and intends to raise around $500 million (3.17 billion yuan) in fresh capital ahead of its IPO. The company’s Hong Kong IPO may take longer due to market volatility.
Why it matters
Within the van hailing industry, Lalamove represents China’s fast growth of digital shipping networks. The company has been rumoured to go public multiple times since 2021, and following its eighth round of funding is valued at $10 billion. Once a successful listing in the future, the market valuation may see a further rise.
Context
As of March 2021, the company’s business covered 363 cities in China, with 7.6 million monthly active users and 580,000 monthly active drivers, both of which are industry leaders. Zhang Yi, the founder and CEO of iiMedia Consulting Group, stated Lalamove had reached the listing stage, regardless of when it was founded or financing situation.
Although the company entered the industry earlier, when it comes to the van hailing market, Lalamove did not occupy an absolute advantage in business scope, scale, technology, business model and other aspects. With many Internet giants entering the game, Lalamove and other van hailing platforms will face a huge challenge.
