Quest Ventures leads $7m round for logistics startup Moovaz

The mobility industry, which is estimated to be worth US$80.2 billion globally, is plagued by opacity, manual processes, and a convoluted supply chain, according to Moovaz, a Singapore-based logistics startup that aims to revolutionize the sector.

For the relocation industry, customers tend to get price-discriminated due to the lack of transparency. Processes are also cumbersome, expensive, and slow due to a lack of digitalization, Junxian Lee, the founder and CEO of Moovaz, told Tech in Asia.

The startup just formally announced that it has received backing from venture capital firm Quest Ventures, the lead investor in its US$7 million series A funding round. Other investors include Supply Chain Angels and SGInnovate, among others.

Photo credit: Moovaz

Moovaz joins Quest Ventures’ portfolio which includes familiar startups such as Carousell, ShopBack, 99.co, Carro, StyleTheory, Glife, Xfers, and others. The Singapore-based VC firm recently hit the first close of its US$50 million fund aimed at post-seed and series A opportunities across Southeast Asia.

With the series A money, Moovaz plans to double down on its product builds and develop new business units and services for expats and “global-locals.” It also plans to expand to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Australia.

According to the startup, 40% of international relocations are going toward Asia, driven by the increased cost of living in the developed West, more flexibility in immigration laws in key markets such as China, India, and Spain, as well as heightened economic activity in Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2017, Moovaz uses machine intelligence to collect and analyze data at each stage of a client’s relocation journey to optimize both the speed and cost involved in the move. It also runs a recommendation engine for long-tail services.

But with cross-border travel heavily regulated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lee admits that the current demand for relocation has been curtailed. However, he expects a surge in demand once the restrictions are relaxed.

In the meantime, the company is making use of the downtime to reshuffle its product development roadmaps, focus on capacity building, and training.

“Covid-19 presents opportunities for us,” Lee said. “There are opportunities for deep strategic partnerships during this period for companies (especially tech companies) to work closely together to find a way out of the woods.”

Moovaz previously secured US$1 million in seed funding from Mojo Partners, the family office fund of Singaporean billionaire Ong Beng Seng, and senior execs from American and Chinese unicorns. It was followed by investments from Hustle Fund and two former 500 Startups partners last year.