Richmond, British Columbia-based last-mile delivery startup UniUni, which serves e-commerce giants Shein and Temu, has secured $50 million USD ($69 million CAD) in Series C financing.
UniUni has described its logistics platform and B2C last-mile delivery model as an “Uber-style” service.
The round, which closed at the end of March, was led by venture capital (VC) firm DCM and featured participation from Canadian VC firm Celtic House Venture Partners. The funding will be used to develop the proprietary tech stack powering UniUni’s logistics platform and to expand its delivery coverage in the United States (US), UniUni founder and CEO Peter Lu said in a statement.
A UniUni spokesperson told BetaKit that DCM will be joining the company’s board as a result of the round. The spokesperson declined to comment when asked if the round featured secondary capital, and declined to disclose the firm’s valuation. With the latest raise, UniUni has secured around $110 million USD ($152 million CAD) in capital to date.
“In just a few years, UniUni has emerged, embracing a new model of last-mile delivery that uses technology to provide the most reliable and cost-effective logistics service available, and we’re happy to support them as they continue expanding across the US and North America,” DCM general partner Ramon Zeng said in a statement.
This latest funding round follows UniUni securing just over $45 million in Series B funding over two tranches last year, both backed by Celtic House Venture Partners.
The first tranche closed in March 2023 and secured $20 million CAD ($15 million USD), following which Lu told TechCrunch the startup’s goal is to secure $1-billion unicorn valuation status by 2025. The second tranche secured almost $28 million CAD ($20 million USD) in December 2023.
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Founded in 2019 and incorporated as Uni Express, UniUni says it delivers tens of millions of parcels from coast to coast in Canada alone, with more than 50 sorting centers in North America, 500 employees, and 10,000 registered drivers as of 2023. The startup has described its logistics platform and B2C last-mile delivery model as an “Uber-style” service, using a variable-cost model for driver recruitment, dispatch, and routing.
UniUni general manager Kevin Wang told The Logic that the startup’s technology optimizes driver routes for efficiency. For example, it will plot a course that minimizes drivers’ need to cross the street to make deliveries.
The Logic also reported that UniUni’s success came in late 2019 when someone with connections to Shein spotted one of its vans after growing out of a small restaurant delivery startup. Shein was looking for a Canadian delivery partner at the time, and Lu received a call from the fast fashion giant that changed the trajectory of his startup.
Following UniUni’s second Series B round close last year, Celtic House partner David Adderley said that UniUni has proven itself in Canada, and the VC firm was “extremely confident” it can do the same in the United States.
Both Shein and Temu have grown immensely in North America in recent years. Shein has been widely investigated and criticized for its alleged labour, environmental, and intellectual property practices, which the company has stated it is working to improve upon. According to reporting from Wired, Temu employs a controversial strategy of offering a large variety of items at ultra-low prices, burning through money and squeezing suppliers in a play to secure market share away from the current market dominator, Amazon.
UPDATE (04/26/24): This story has been updated with additional reporting, round details shared by a UniUni spokesperson, and to correct the timeline of UniExpress’s partnership with Shein.
Feature image courtesy UniUni.