Uber gets into removals business with launch of UberCARGO in Hong Kong

Uber is trying something new in Hong Kong today with the launch of UberCARGO. As the name implies, it allows people to flag down removals vans in the Uber app. It’s a world-first debut for UberCARGO.

The UberCARGO launch comes nearly seven months after Uber first rolled into Hong Kong. Later, the US-based startup added in UberTaxi for the HK market.

We observed last year that so-called “Uber for logistics” is already happening in Asia, and Uber is getting left behind. But not any more.

UberCARGO resembles the services of the Hong Kong startups that first moved into this space, Gogovan and Lalamove. Gogovan attracted US$6.5 million in VC funding last August, and then a further US$10 million in November to help it expand to mainland China. Meanwhile, Lalamove rebranded from EasyVan to show that it’d cover more types of vehicles as it picks up funding and expands across Asia.

“Uber has done fantastic things globally, so it’s a compliment they’re following this path,” says Blake Larson from Lalamove. “It validates this space,” he adds. Lalamove currently aggregates 6,000 vans and trucks in Hong Kong and covers areas of logistics that UberCARGO currently doesn’t with its relatively small vans. “The spectrum we serve is larger, across individuals and businesses,” explains Larson to Tech in Asia.

See: Banning is easy. Now the question is, how can Uber be regulated?