Indonesian logistics startup Shipper has secured a $5-million seed funding round from Y Combinator, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Floodgate, Insignia Ventures Partners, and Convergence Ventures, according to a TechCrunch report.
The fresh capital will be used for hiring and customer acquisition, the report said.
Shipper works by picking up a package and helping customers find the best shipping price from its network of partner logistics shippers including JNE, Sicepat, Ninja Xpress and aCommerce. It also provides an API, which enterprises can plug into their apps or websites to add shipping and tracking services.
Shipper is the latest company that is looking to ride on the boom in the last mile logistics space driven by the increasing popularity of e-commerce in the country.
Among the last mile delivery companies that have raised significant funding are Paxel, which is recently learnt to have raised an investment of $10 million, and Sicepat, which raised a Series A of $50 million in April, while one of the earliest players JNT was reported to have secured a $100-million backing from unnamed investors.
The huge opportunity in the Indonesian market has also attracted foreign players into the country, with Grab-backed NinjaVan continuing to pose arguably the biggest threat to the local players, fueled by its latest funding round of $85 million.
Meanwhile, in the trucking sector, a number of logistics companies have also attracted investment interest from venture capitalists. Earlier this year, Ritase announced an $8.5-million funding raised a Series A funding led by Golden Gate Ventures, while competitor Kargo Tech raised a $7.5 million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Meanwhile, East Ventures-backed warehousing startup Waresix, which in July raised $14.5 million in a Series A round, has added trucking-related services to its portfolio.