Ninja Van, a Singapore-based logistics startup company, is poised for massive growth across the region.

In a recent announcement, the company mentioned that it has successfully raised $578 million in a Series E funding round, with Alibaba Group as one of its investors.

Key Highlights

• Ninja Van's Series E round included the participation of existing investors (GeoPost, B Capital Group, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Zamrud), and new investor Alibaba Group.
• The new round of funding brings Ninja Van's valuation past $1 billion.
• Funds will be used to support the company's growth across the Southeast Asian region, and beefing up its infrastructure and technology systems to support "a sustainable long-term cost structure", according to the company.

Why It Matters

• The logistics space in Southeast Asia is still largely untapped, with many players competing for a piece of the pie.
• At present, Ninja Van claims it delivers approximately 2 million parcels a day to over 100 million recipients.
• Since its inception back in 2014, Ninja Van has grown to over 61,000 staff and operates across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
• Many speculate that Ninja Van could go public possibly within the next 1 - 2 years.