Alibaba invests US$200m in Ninja Van; GeoPost remains largest shareholder

EUROPEAN courier service GeoPost has raised its stake in Singapore's Ninja Van to 40 per cent, remaining as the startup's largest shareholder, while Alibaba has poured US$200 million into the startup, regulatory filings seen by The Business Times indicate.

On Sunday, Ninja Van announced that it raised US$578 million from new investor Alibaba, as well as existing backers GeoPost; venture capital firms B Capital Group and Monk's Hill Ventures; and Zamrud, which is linked to Brunei's sovereign wealth fund.

Ninja Van did not provide a breakdown of investors' individual contributions nor its latest valuation. But back-of-the-envelope calculations by BT suggest its latest valuation stands at about US$1.85 billion, more than double from last year. The startup declined to confirm this.

On Monday, GeoPost released a press statement disclosing its 40 per cent stake in Ninja Van, while noting that it was the lead investor of the latest fundraise. Prior to this, GeoPost was also the largest shareholder, owning 31.15 per cent of the startup, data platform VentureCap Insights shows.

"By leading this new fund raising, we reinforce our ambition in this key geographical market and reiterate our trust in the management team of the company," said Boris Winkelmann, chairman and chief executive of GeoPost, which owns European parcel delivery network DPDgroup.

Separately, regulatory filings show that Alibaba had subscribed to 1.7 million Series E shares in Ninja Van at US$117.36 apiece, amounting to a total investment of about US$200 million. Notably, the latest share price is near double that of Ninja Van's Series D share price of US$61.43 in April 2020. The latter figure is obtained from VentureCap Insights.

Ninja Van's latest fundraise brings it into the league of Singapore-based unicorns, which includes Grab, JustCo, Carousell, PatSnap, Nium, Carro, Trax and Acronis.

Launched in 2014, Ninja Van specialises in last-mile logistics and supply chain solutions. Besides Singapore, it has operations in five other regional markets: Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Chief executive Lai Chang Wen previously told press in July that the startup may pursue an initial public offering in the US as early as next year.

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