Line Man Wongnai, a food delivery startup in Thailand, announced raising $265 million in a Series B funding round that values it at over $1 billion, minting the company as the country’s latest tech unicorn.
The startup, which now claims to be the largest tech startup by valuation in Thailand, said the funding round was anchored by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Japan-based Line Corporation.
PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited, existing investor BRV Capital Management, Bualuang Ventures, and Taiwan Mobile also participated.
Line Man Wongnai was formed in July 2020 from the merger of Line Man, Thailand’s on-demand assistant app, and Wongnai, a Thai restaurant aggregator. Line Man is a unit of Japan-based Line Group.
The merged company raised $110 million from BRV Capital to compete with regional players such as Grab and GoTo in July 2020. It now operates in all 77 provinces in Thailand, offering delivery options to 700,000 restaurants, according to the announcement.
The startup, which has more than 1,000 employees, brings together an e-commerce platform for services, including food delivery, grocery delivery, taxi, messenger, restaurant reviews, and restaurant solutions. It has more than 1,000 employees.
“The announcement opens the next chapter for Line Man Wongnai to grow from a local Thai startup to a regional tech platform. We thank LINE for embracing us into its deep mobile ecosystem and providing ongoing support for our journey,” said the company’s chief financial officer In Young Chung.
Reuters reported last year that the company was looking at an initial public offering within 2-3 years. Chung confirmed in the latest announcement that the Line Man Wongnai team is working towards an IPO.
Line Man Wongnai said the fresh funding will be used to strengthen its position in the food delivery market, expand new service categories, recruit more than 450 tech professionals, and improve its tech infrastructure.
The company now joins Thailand’s unicorn club, which includes logistics and courier service provider Flash Express and digital payment firm Ascend Money.