Last-mile logistics startup Ninja Van doubles deliveries in 8 months, launches in Malaysia

Singapore-headquartered last-mile logistics startup Ninja Van is rolling along nicely. The company today announced its long-awaited launch in Malaysia, where it will start by covering urban areas to the west of the country, and plans to offer full coverage in the peninsula by end of 2016.

Ninja Van currently delivers 5,000 parcels per day in Malaysia.

But that’s not the only good news. Ninja Van says it has doubled its delivery numbers in the last eight months. The startup claims it delivers around 10,000 items each day, up from 5,000 back in August 2015. It won’t, however, disclose revenue figures for that time.

Ninja Van’s edge is in the way it uses algorithms to provide the best delivery routes, basically allowing delivery people to bring items to their intended recipients at the shortest possible time.

As part of its Malaysian expansion, Ninja Van plans to bring to the country its full range of services, including real-time updates on the status of parcels, cash-on-delivery payment options, and Ninja Collect, the drop-off and self-collection service it debuted in Singapore in December.

See: In Southeast Asia, the real money is in logistics, not ecommerce

The startup calls this its first market expansion out of Singapore, although it’s been operating in Indonesia for a while. The reason, it tells Tech in Asia, is that its Indonesian presence is more of a “soft launch,” where Ninja Van is trying to test the waters and establish enough hubs in the archipelago before it launches officially.

Conversely, the startup says it’s got 200 drivers and riders ready to go in Malaysia, with that number expected to rise as it acquires more clients and establishes more hubs. Another 200 operate in Singapore. Ninja Van currently delivers 5,000 parcels per day in Malaysia, and expects a three- to five-fold growth in delivery volume by the end of the year.

Ninja Van is working with several big-name brands in the region, like ecommerce websites Lazada, Zalora, and Qoo10, marketplaces like Shopee, and retailers like Charles & Keith, Watsons, and Guardian.