Alibaba’s Ant Financial has co-led an RMB1bn ($144m) Series C financing round for Chinese logistics and FinTech business Keking.
The company’s platform integrates cargo and vehicle management with financial services such as capital settlement, credit scoring of business partners and drivers, and inclusive services such as freight and truck installments.
Sequoia Capital reinvested in the business as part of the latest round, which also drew support from Centerium Capital, Tebon Securities and Shanghai Tengyi Industrial.
Keking had earlier raised an RMB100m Series A round from Sequoia in 2015, and a year later joined a RMB200m Series B investment in the firm with participation from AVIC Trust, Tebon Securities and China Fellow Partners.
The Series C round comes at a time when Alibaba plans to invest over RMB100bn in a smart logistics network, and believes the strategic partnership with Keking will create a platform of data, technology and financial services that suits micro, small and medium enterprises as well as the vehicle drivers.
The total cost of logistics in China last year was RMB12tn, accounting for about 15 per cent of the country’s GDP – much higher than that of developed markets in Europe and America, Keking said in a statement.
In the past three years Keking – which also appears to be referred to as Kaijin – has served more than 10,000 small and micro-logistics businesses, one million driver drivers, and the annual platform bill is about RMB70bn.
Ji Gang, vice president of Ant Financial Services, said: “Kaijing Technology has been deeply cultivating the logistics industry since its establishment, and has precipitated the unique capabilities of logistics digitalization and quantitative models.
“Ant Financial is committed to creating an open ecosystem for small and micro enterprises and consumers. Providing inclusive financial services.
“Ant Financial will team up with Kaijing to build the data, technology and financial services that understand the small micro-logistics and drivers, and continue to support the development of unicorns such as Kaijing.”
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