Richmond, BC-based last-mile logistics tech startup UniUni has closed $30 million USD ($42.2 million CAD) in Series C financing to deepen its push into the United States (US).
The all-equity, all-primary round, classified as “Series C2,” was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from LFX Venture Partners, Lanchi Ventures, Joy Capital, and Celtic House Venture Partners. It brings the startup’s total funding to roughly $120 million USD ($169 million CAD). A spokesperson for the company told BetaKit that the round closed roughly one month ago.
UniUni claimed its monthly US revenues have increased fourfold in the last year.
The financing comes just six months after UniUni secured $50 million USD ($69 million CAD), led by DCM with participation from Celtic House Venture Partners. UniUni declined to say whether its latest financing constituted an up round.
Founded in 2019, UniUni initially began as a small restaurant delivery startup called Uni Express. Today, the company offers a gig worker-powered e-commerce logistics platform and last-mile delivery service that uses passenger vehicles to deliver goods to consumers. The platform features a variable-cost model for driver recruitment, dispatch, and routing, as well as software that optimizes driver routes for efficient delivery.
UniUni says it now delivers tens of millions of parcels in Canada alone. The startup expanded to the US in 2022, and today, it operates sorting centres in major cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Miami.
“UniUni now has more than 60 warehouses across North America, and these funds will help to further boost our growth and expand our service areas to more of the United States,” UniUni CEO Peter Lu said in a statement. “Automated sortation lines will be deployed in more cities, which will enhance parcel-handling capacity, efficiency and accuracy, while speeding up delivery times.”
In a statement announcing its latest fundraise, UniUni claimed it has doubled its total number of warehouses in the past six months. Its parcel volume has also increased 425 percent in the past year, and 44 percent in the past six months, the company claimed, while its network of registered drivers sits at more than 40,000.
Earlier this month, UniUni recently ranked in fourth place on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 after posting 12,854 percent revenue growth in the last three years. In a statement, the startup said its monthly US revenues have increased fourfold in the last year.
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“Logistics is a massive market undergoing structural change due to the accelerating demands of the e-commerce era, with a new class of carriers emerging,” Bryan Wu, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, said in a statement. “UniUni brings a new model of delivery that addresses the pressing demands for e-commerce platforms and online retailers.
UniUni plans to use its latest financing to deepen its push into the US market, where the startup plans to add warehouses and robotic sorting centres. It also plans to up its investments in software improvements, and plans to integrate artificial intelligence into the customer service and driver route optimization processes.
Partner uncertainties
UniUni was at one point known to be a delivery partner for two of the world’s largest discount retail brands, but its current position on both the home front and in the US is now unclear.
According to its website, UniUni’s customers include firms like Shopify, ProShop, and Machool. A 2023 report in Richmond News said UniUni was named the exclusive delivery partner in Canada for the major Chinese discount retailer Shein roughly four years ago, and later won a contract to be a Canadian delivery partner with another Chinese discount retailer, Temu, alongside Canada Post.
UniUni’s spokesperson declined to say whether the company is currently a delivery partner for Shein or Temu in Canada, the US, or anywhere else. However, BetaKit has identified comments online that indicate Canadians are receiving Temu orders from different delivery partners, and is also directly in contact with one Shein customer who said they recently received their products through Canada Post, whose workers began a national strike today.
This week, Amazon announced a new service expected to rival both Shein and Temu. Amazon Haul, currently available in beta in the US, is a mobile discount shopping service covering fashion, home, lifestyle, and electronics goods, with many products priced at $10 USD or less.
BetaKit asked UniUni whether it believes the rollout of Amazon Haul will impact the company’s US expansion plans, but did not receive a response.
Feature image courtesy UniUni.