Founded in 2013 as EasyVan in Hong Kong, Lalamove is the leading same-day delivery platform present in 129 cities in 9 countries across Asia. Through its mobile & desktop platform, Lalamove connects customers with professional van, motorcycle, lorry and truck drivers. Some of their corporate clients include IKEA, Line or Google. Lalamove raised a total of $161 mil in funding over 6 rounds. The latest funding came from a Series C of $100M on Oct 11, 2017 which means the company is now valued at more than 1 billion dollars.
Also short intro about Blake: he has worked across 4 continents in the retail and technology sector
- Helped lead the growth of Lalamove from 1 city in SEA to 8
- Raised Series A funding of USD $10m
- Launched Easy Taxi app funded by Rocket Internet, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, and Jakarta.
- Co-Founded and managed Air Crew Club, which was like Groupon for airline employees, and expanded it to 13 cities across 6 continents
Listen to the full discussion here:
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- Spending eight weeks in Hong Kong standing outside petrol stations handing out flyers to taxi drivers
- How does Lalamove work and bring value to the customers
- Last-mile logistics centers differ across the region
- The fastest-growing country in SE Asia for Lalamove
- Did Lalamove fail in any city?
- Innovation and greener environment by using fewer vehicles
- Hiring city directors four launching new markets
- The four values of the company – passion, grit, humility, and execution
- New employees need to build their chairs – the story behind
Show notes:
- [01:44] How did you spend your first eight weeks for Rocket Internet in Hong Kong standing outside petrol stations handing out flyers to taxi drivers?
- [03:46] Tell us more about Lalamove, what it is and how exactly it works and adds value to people?
- [05:05] And what is your role as MD International?
- [05:35] How different is it operating across different cities and countries?
- [07:43] How do last-mile logistics centers differ across the countries/regions in which Lalamove operates? I know Hong Kong has a 55 minutes delivery guarantee.
- [10:14] How do you pay the drivers? Is there a revenue sharing model?
- [10:43] Which was the fastest growing country in SE Asia for you and maybe share some of the key lessons in expanding there?
- [13:30] Do you have strong competition in the region?
- [14:16] With the latest round of funding, what are your plans for expansion and where? Do you plan to target more corporate or SME clients?
- [15:20] Has Lalamove failed in any city?
- [17:05] What do Singaporeans care about when talking about your service?
- [17:50] Does the same-day delivery have the potential to become a standard delivery option for the masses, or will it remain an option just for the limited number of impatient consumers with deep pockets?
- [21:25] Thoughts on last mile logistics problems? Will it be the biggest challenge for e-commerce growth?
- [24:54] Do you plan to attract more corporate clients? The likes of IKEA, Line.
- [26:13] How do you hire your city directors? And maybe tell us about the process of doing the launch of a new city.
- [29:00] What are your main challenges when it comes to finding the right talent? How do you keep up with hiring matters as you grow?
- [30:02] The four values of the company – passion, grit, humility, and execution – How do you tell the story of the company culture and build an interesting brand as an employer?
- [32:12] It is interesting to see HUMILITY as one of your values. How did you decide to focus on this?
- [33:56] I understand that you make your new employees build their chairs. What is the story behind that?
- [37:26] What would be some advice to share to somebody graduating?
