Singapore’s SWAT Mobility bags $3.8m as it eyes profits in 1-2 years

Photo credit: SWAT Mobility

Singapore-headquartered SWAT Mobility has raised an additional US$3.8 million of funding as it aims to expand its AI-powered transportation platform across Asia. This extends its total capital raised this round to US$7.2 million, CEO Jarrold Ong confirmed to Tech in Asia.

The fundraise comes amid a mixed outlook for the tech-enabled transport and logistics spaces in Asia. Indian ride-hailer Ola is gunning for an IPO while trimming markets and investing in new areas, while Singapore-headquartered NinjaVan is reeling from a cutthroat logistics price war.

SWAT Mobility, however, operates a unique model by comparison. The company offers AI-powered solutions – primarily to generate efficient travel routes – for clients in the mobility space, including transport operators and government agencies.

Since its founding in 2015, it has also developed a bus boarding and alighting data analysis system, a delivery system for logistics companies, and an on-demand transportation system. It operates in Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines – as well as its biggest market of Japan, where at least 50 companies and local government units use its models.

Among the investors in the new fundraise is NEC & Translink Orchestrating Future Fund, a VC fund managed by US-based Translink Capital and Japan’s NEC Corporation. Other participants include NX Global Innovation Fund – a fund from Tokyo-based logistics services company Nippon Express – as well as Japanese utility firm Chubu Electric Power.

To further support its momentum in Japan, SWAT Mobility has established an engineering team in the country while expanding its sales and customer service departments. Ong says the fresh funding will also help the research and development of its logistics-focused services.

In a statement, the startup said it anticipates greater demand from the sector in Japan, as labor shortages are deemed imminent in the country “due to tightened labor regulations for truck drivers starting in April 2024.”

In 2021, SWAT Mobility was reported to be eyeing an IPO in Japan, though it’s unclear what the plan is currently. CEO Ong says the company aims to be profitable within one to two years.

See also: Series SEA: Who’s investing in the region’s logistics and transportation startups?