A unicorn with North Texas ties is looking to go public.
Lalamove, an on-demand logistics and delivery startup valued at around $8 billion in 2020, has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, Bloomberg first reported.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said the company is looking to raise a minimum of $1 billion with the offering. However, details and total raise amounts could still change. The report also said the company has no specific timeline for when it will hit the public markets.
When the Hong Kong-based startup set up shop in DFW late last year, the city became the startup’s de facto hub for its U.S. operations, including the Houston and Chicago markets. Since then, it has amassed a local team of about 20, including roles in H.R., marketing and finance. The team currently works out of Common Desk in Richardson.
At the time, Lalamove’s DFW-based International Managing Director Blake Larson told NTX Inno that the move to North Texas was partly due to travel restrictions during the pandemic. Initially, the company had been looking at markets in places like Australia and Africa. However, he added that the region’s business-friendly environment, a wealth of tech talent and location as a major shipping hub also attracted the company.
“Texas in general, from a cost-talent-opportunity perspective, really hit the sweet spot,” Larson said at the time.
Lalamove was launched in 2013 and now operates in more than 20 markets in the U.S., Asia and Latin America with more than 700,000 drivers and more than 7 million users. Since then, it has raised nearly $977 million, most recently with a $515 million Series E round raised from existing backers Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital and Shunwei Capital.
Following Lalamove’s entrance into the U.S., Larson said it was looking to be operating in 30 to 50 U.S. cities over the next 18 to 24 months.
The company goes by Huolala in China.
