Vietnamese startup HeyU wants to mimic Gojek’s concierge model

Vietnamese startup HeyU announced Wednesday that it has launched its operations in Ho Chi Minh City and will roll out its concierge services, similar to what Gojek has in Indonesia.

With an aim to become an all-in-one concierge assistant platform, within this month, HeyU plans to launch services that will allow users to appoint errand runners from the company to buy groceries or shop on their behalf.

Vietnam’s on-demand consumer market already has similar service providers such as Lozi and Now.vn – a part of Foody that got acquired by Sea for US$64 million in 2017. Gojek operates in Vietnam as Go-Viet and it has not been able to roll out concierge services in the country yet.

Founded in 2017, HeyU, formerly known as San Ship, is an instant delivery platform designated for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh suburban areas, connecting store owners (merchants) with available motorbike riders (shippers).

HeyU’s CEO, Pham The Anh, claimed that his startup’s shipping services are different than Grab and Go-Viet’s parcel delivery services in Vietnam. According to Pham, HeyU’s shippers instantly deliver for store owners and can provide cash-on-delivery services for up to 3 million Vietnamese dong (US$130) per order.

Pham said that for the first year, HeyU operated as a bootstrapped company and did not raise any institutional funding from VCs. He primarily relied on Facebook groups to extend the network of shippers and store owners. HeyU said its merchants are free to decide shipping fees, taking only 18% commission from shippers.

In 2018, the company raised US$500,000 from NextTech Group, which also backed ride-hailing firm FastGo and a slew of other tech startups such as lending platform Vaymuon and e-wallet Vimo. Currently, HeyU is in the process of raising series A funding from domestic and regional venture capitalists, hoping to close this round as a US$3 million funding deal.

This report was first published on KrAsia.