SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 14 October 2021 – Pickupp,
the on-demand delivery and tech startup redefining logistics, today announced
that it has secured additional investments from Reefknot,
a joint venture 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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