Ninja Van to hire 200 engineers ahead of potential US listing

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Logistics firm Ninja Van plans to hire 200 engineers to beef up its technology ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the United States within two years.

The new hires across Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia would double the start-up's engineering workforce to 400 in the next 18 months, chief executive officer Lai Chang Wen, 34, said in a video interview.

The start-up just raised US$578 million (S$784.6 million) from investors, including Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, making it Singapore's newest unicorn.

Ninja Van, which is 40 per cent owned by European logistics company GeoPost/DPDgroup, plans to invest in technology and automation to improve its parcel delivery services as South-east Asia's e-commerce industry expands rapidly. It plans to allocate the bulk of the funds to Ninja Direct, a relatively new business that allows online sellers in the region to buy products from China and other markets. The service includes customs clearance, delivery and financing, Mr Lai said.

"I see so much potential in the Ninja Direct business and so much more room for growth in our core business," the CEO said. "We need to execute first, but I don't think we're too far away. We can push to an IPO" within two years, he said.

Seven-year-old Ninja Van is among the biggest South-east Asian start-up employers with 61,000 workers across six countries, including 46,000 who work as truck drivers, warehouse staff and in other operational roles.