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Locad a Logistics Integrator Company Raised US$4.9 Million in Funding!

Locad

Locad, a logistics and supply chain management integrator, has raised US$4.9 million in a seed round headed by Sequoia Capital India's Surge, with participation from Antler, Febe Ventures, Foxmont, Global Founders Capital, Gokongwei Family, and Hustle Fund.

Locad

Locad provides eCommerce companies and merchants with a simple yet scalable end-to-end solution. In APAC, organizations wanting to grow their business worldwide can find options ranging from plug-and-play eCommerce fulfillment to a dispersed warehouse network.

Locad, powered by a fully digital and integrated platform with real-time insight over order and inventory movements, fills an essential gap in the present eCommerce landscape in Southeast Asia's fragmented, complicated, and sluggish supply chain environment.

Founded in October 2020 in Manila and Singapore, Situated in Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, Singapore, and Locad is rapidly becoming a logistical sector company. Although many firms handle challenges of the first and last km, few offer the completely integrated solution that Locad is pioneering to achieve.

Locad's corporate clients may interface with eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora. With real-time insight to sales, orders, inventory, and service levels, Brands can manage all of their orders from a single virtual pool across several channels.

"Since partnering with Locad, our business could focus less on the fulfillment process and more on other aspects like product and marketing. As a result, there is an increase in our sales and conversion rate right away,” said Janine Munez, Director of IT Operations at KJM Cosmetics. With the ability to fulfill orders faster and provide more affordable shipping rates to their customers, the Filipino-grown cosmetics brand based in Davao shared that their conversion rate nearly doubled for both their Shopee and Lazada stores after adding localized fulfillment in Metro Manila with Locad, thereby cutting delivery time and shipping fees for buyers.

Locad

CEO and co-Founder Constantin Robertz shared, “eCommerce and on-demand delivery services are accelerating in the Philippines. Many vendors, producers, and sellers are migrating to digital channels but are still hampered with the logistics of bringing products to their customers. They also lack infrastructure, resources, and experience in managing both online services and their own supply chain.” With the exponential growth of eCommerce in Southeast Asia, Locad is empowering eCommerce brands who will play a pivotal role in driving the Philippines’ massive post-pandemic growth opportunity.

The creators of Locad's aim is mainly to level the field of direct trade by offering small and major businesses access to a network of supply chain integration, dispersed and adaptable, simple but scalable. The company's capability to offer a single platform, from fulfillment to distributive warehousing helps businesses to satisfy their consumers' growing demands by utilizing flexible, easy to use and pain-free logistics solutions, in an industry in which reliabilities and speed might make or break an eCommerce brand.

“We are now serving more than 30 brands in the Philippines, helping small businesses to some of the largest retailers deliver tens of thousands of items each month. We’re excited to be providing logistics infrastructures to eCommerce businesses of any size in these countries and we will continue to grow our presence across the region,” shared Jannis Dargel, COO and Co-Founder of Locad.

Locad

The Philippines’ first Sequoia Surge investment
Sequoia's first Philippine Surge investment is Locad. Sequoia is one of the world's premier venture capital firms, having financed renowned technology companies including Airbnb, Zoom, Youtube, Tokopedia, and others since 1972.

This investment will further enhance and expand Locad’s platform and fulfillment network that enables its clients’ goals for eCommerce growth. With eCommerce showing 76% penetration in the Philippines in 2020, an increase in the usage and need for Locad’s comprehensive services is likely to occur as businesses strive to level up their fulfillment infrastructure.

The additional funding will accelerate the development of Locad’s technology and will create better opportunities for businesses that select the logistics cloud as their platform of choice to grow their direct-to-consumer business in eCommerce and omnichannel retail, also ensuring continuity for years to come. By maximizing Locad as the primary platform for performing and organizing the logistics needs related to eCommerce, the integrated platform enables companies to run a more seamless fulfillment infrastructure at affordable costs.

Locad

Locad’s shipping platform with a comprehensive range of integrated couriers enables brands to deliver nationwide, and its fulfillment network with warehouses strategically located in Taguig, Paranaque, Laguna, Cebu, and Davao (opening soon), provides flexible fulfillment capacity and allows brands to reduce shipping time and costs by storing products closer to online shoppers.

With its Seed funding of $4.9M, Locad will expand its cloud logistics platform to work with more Philippine businesses of all sizes. The company is also investing in broadening its regional footprint in Southeast Asia and Australia, providing Philippine businesses an accessible option to pursue regional expansion and make their products accessible to consumers across Asia-Pacific.

Founders Constantin Robertz, Jannis Dargel, and Shrey Jain came together to start Locad after years in Southeast Asia's eCommerce, transportation, and logistics ecosystem, previously working in leadership roles at Grab, Zalora, and Entrego.

Led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, the seed investment round of Locad is joined by Antler, Febe Ventures, Foxmont, Global Founders Capital, the Gokongwei Family, Hustle Fund, and angel investors from the Technology, eCommerce, and Logistics ecosystem, including Alessandro Duri (eCommerce, MEA), Paulo Campos (eCommerce, Zalora), Henry Ko and Huey Lin (Logistics, Flexport), Thibaud Lecuyer (Logistics, Loggi), Oliver Mickler and Tim Seithe (Fintech, Tillhub), Christian Weiss and Tim Marbach (Technology, Venture Capital).

Locad is part of Surge’s fifth cohort of 23 companies that have developed new digital solutions to help companies and individuals work, live, and learn better in a rapidly evolving Southeast Asian landscape.

Customers can reach out to use Locad’s services here.

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