Start With U-Haul. Throw in Uber. Get $300 Million

Take Uber. Add U-Haul. Two years later, if you’re the founders of van rental startup GOGOVan Ltd., get a $300 million valuation.
The Hong Kong-based logistics company is in talks to raise about $50 million at a valuation of at least $300 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The on-demand delivery company is seeking to close the funding round by early September, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. GOGOVan said in an e-mail Thursday it’s raising funds, though it declined to comment on the amount and the company’s valuation.
GOGOVan helps users access a fleet of vehicles, moving everything from furniture to packages, with the ability to order a driver through a smartphone application like Uber Technologies Inc. The startup handles 15,000 deliveries a day and has signed up 78,000 drivers across Asia after expanding to Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China.
Growing fast is crucial to the success of logistics companies, according to Chi Tsang, head of Asia Internet research for HSBC Holdings Plc.
“Once you have all these drivers and are delivering packages and all the merchants are using you, it’s very tough to dislodge,” he said. “That’s why Uber is one of the fastest growing startups. It’s all about the scale game.”

‘Great Interest’

The funding, for a 15 percent stake in the two-year-old company, is coming from new and old backers, which have included Centurion Private Equity and Renren Inc. founder Joe Chen, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Angel investor Zemin Hu, former chief executive of 91.com, has also put money in them.
GOGOVan was started by Nick Tang, Reeve Kwan, and Steven Lam, who met and became friends at the University of California at Berkeley. Lam, the company’s CEO, told the South China Morning Post last year the trio started out by delivering lunchboxes with advertising displayed, and began drafting drivers off the street when the business grew.
While GOGOVan has raised about $17 million in two previous rounds last year led by Centurion, the company has never disclosed its valuation, according to CrunchBase.
“Many other potential investors have also actively reached out to GOGOVan and expressed great interest in participating in future rounds of funding,” the company said.
GOGOVan is among a crop of startups operating in the region’s logistics arena. It competes with EasyVan as well as Uber’s own logistics service in Hong Kong, called UberCargo.
The company has partnered to provide vans to Kerry Logistics Network Ltd., FedEx Corp. and DHL Worldwide Express.
(by Shai Oster)
Source: BloombergBusiness
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