- Malaysian logistics startup TheLorry have recently acquired close to RM24 million in Series B funding in a round led by FirstFloor Capital.
- They plan to utilise this funding to help improve the public perception of lorry and truck drivers while helping them grow their respective businesses.
Today, Malaysia-based logistics startup TheLorry announced their success in raising USD5.85 million (approximately RM24 million) in a Series B funding round led by FirstFloor Capital, with other participating funders including PNB-INSPiRE Ethical Fund I, Cradle Seed Ventures, and Axiata Digital Innovation Fund.
Since its inception in 2014, TheLorry has since become a platform that has connected thousands of individual and corporate clients to truck, lorry, and van owners across Southeast Asia, with their platform making it simple for just about anyone to acquire heavy-load or long-haul transportation services, ranging from house-moving to heavy-industry equipment.
Moving Everyone Up
With its newly-gotten funds, TheLorry will now make moves to strengthen its presence in the four markets in which it is currently in—Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Concurrently, it will also look to help lorry and truck drivers improve their perception within the public eye.
“There is a lot of value in a lorry and truck-driving career that many people have yet to see and appreciate,” said co-founder and Executive Director Nadhir Ashafiq. “We want to be the agent of change in uplifting the status and income of lorry and truck drivers in this region.”
Elaborating on this point, Nadhir revealed that his team have so far been able to help a good number within this profile improve their livelihoods as truck and lorry drivers.
“We’ve so many of these success stories across the region, such as where our platform helped an owner-operator grow from one lorry to four lorries within a matter of two years,” he explained. “Besides job generation, we would also like to add value to our partners by providing them with professional training and skills-training for them to grow their business in the long term.”
Coming a long way since its Series A funding in 2016, TheLorry is now profitable and has seen exponential growth following its expansions to Thailand and Indonesia last year.
“Ultimately, we’d like to be the market leaders for logistics platforms in Southeast Asia,” Nadhir said. “Our vision is to make logistics more efficient and more affordable, and that includes both individual and corporate use-cases, be it house-moving, goods distribution, or bulky e-commerce deliveries.”
Other co-founder and Managing Director Goh Chee Hau thinks that the ecosystem built by TheLorry will be able to bring down costs for consumers.
“With the optimisation done through our technology, we’re reducing underutilised capacity, and in turn improving the efficiency of our drivers,” he said. “We are already seeing the results of cost-savings being delivered to our customers.”
Planning Ahead
Looking ahead, Nadhir shared that his team would look to build upon their current success by increasing their standing as a top logistics provider within the SEA region.
“We still have a long way to go to improve in terms of brand awareness in the region,” he said. “A lot more effort needs to be done in terms of scaling and becoming the number one choice for individuals and corporates to move bulky items.”
“We have to look at an integrated approach in marketing for all the countries we operate in.”
Finally, he shared plans for TheLorry in 2019.
“Our focus for 2019 and beyond would be to further enhance our product line with the idea of making logistics more efficient and more affordable,” he said. “That includes shipping new products and improving and upgrading our existing products.”
“Currently, we’d like to focus on the four markets we’re present in, but we are also looking at other SEA markets in the long term.”
- You can find out more about TheLorry on their website or Facebook page.
Feature Image Credit: TheLorry
