Loship bags $12 million in pre-series C funding round

Loship has been doing extremely well during the COVID-19 pandemic

Other investors participating in the round include MetaPlanet Holdings, Wealth Well, Prism Ventures, and SQ Capital Group (SCCG), along with a plethora of individual investors.

Amid the pandemic-led downturn, Loship has shown resilience and come out stronger from the crisis. The round comes on the heels of Loship’s undisclosed bridge funding round in February 2021 led by Skype co-founder backed MetaPlanet Holdings.

The latest influx of funding will be used to deepen the company’s presence in key markets, pave the way for business expansion into new regions, and fuel its latest growth area – B2B delivery offering for small food and beverage businesses and mom-and-pop shops. Having the world’s prominent investors on board, Loship sees itself as a convener of global tech expertise and local market insights, facilitating collaboration to improve the everyday lives of Vietnamese people and further upgrade Vietnam’s startup ecosystem

“We are grateful for the strong support from our new and existing investors and their conviction in our capabilities and company vision. We have a very clear path to profitability as well as strategic plans on how to get there. Next on our agenda is to bring Loship services to customers living in all parts of Vietnam, especially the lower-tier markets. We will also use the funding to drive forward instant commerce, with delivery under one hour. Whenever customers want to buy something instantly, they think of Loship,” shared Trung Hoang Nguyen, co-founder and CEO of Loship.

“Loship creates a strong ecosystem which adds value to small business, customers, as well as riders. Under Trung's entrepreneurship and leadership, we saw the company get much stronger during the pandemic by constantly bringing product and service innovation to its merchants and users. We are very excited to be part of the Loship team. We strongly believe in local entrepreneurs to understand the market and people's needs better in a great potential market like Vietnam,” said Benny Chen, managing director at BAce Capital.

“As part of our ongoing private investment strategy, Sun Hung Kai & Co., Ltd. (SHK & Co) is excited to partner with BAce to co-lead an investment round into Loship. We believe that Vietnam possesses great long-term potential as a market, and we are keen to support entrepreneurs like Trung and his team to build innovative businesses that thoughtfully address local needs,” added Lincoln Yeh, co-head of Private Equity at SHK & Co.

Loship marks a Vietnam foray for both of the lead investors BAce Capital and SHK & Co, as part of their strategies to capture the emerging market opportunities in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese delivery startup is backed by many other renowned investors including Smilegate Investment, Hana Financial Group, Golden Gate Ventures, and Vulpes Investment Management, among others. Loship is also in advanced talks with other investors for its Series C round, expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Launched in 2017, Loship has evolved from being an online review site to a leading one-hour-delivery e-commerce platform. In times of crisis, Loship has stepped up as an essential platform for its Vietnamese customers, delivering everyday items such as food, groceries, medical supplies, and home necessities, among others. The past year also saw Loship accelerate its commitment to innovation, with a first-of-its-kind podcast feature wherein customers can listen to multiple podcasts directly in Loship platform while waiting for delivery.