Singapore-based Locad raises $11M Series A funding to boost consumer brands in Asia Pacific with logistics engine

eCommerce businesses have thrived in recent years, thanks in part to the pandemic that forced millions of people to shop from home. However, while most entrepreneurs see eCommerce as a way to get their products in front of a huge online audience from around the world, what they often fail to see are the logistics challenges and the need to fulfill the orders made by new customers. That’s the problem one Singapore-based logistics tech startup is aiming to solve.

Enter Locad, a logistics engine that provides a cloud supply chain for Asia-Pacific brands to store, pack, ship, and track orders for e-commerce and omnichannel retail through a tech platform connecting a network of warehouses and shipping partners.

To further grow its cloud-based logistics software platform in Asia, Locad announced today it has raised $11 million in Series A funding led by Reefknot Investments, with participation from returning investors Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s Surge, Febe Ventures, Antler, as well as new investors Access Ventures, JG Summit, and WTI. Reefknot Investments is a fund anchored by Temasek and logistics powerhouse Kuehne & Nagel.

Locad will also use the new cash infusion to build the region’s largest fulfillment network. The company is adding warehouses, partnering with transport operators, and hiring talent across the region to scale in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Founded by CEO Constantin Robertz and CTO Shrey Jain, Locad’s platform, which is dubbed the logistics engine, syncs inventory across sales channels such as Shopify, Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop, and orchestrates end-to-end order fulfillment for B2C and B2B orders, from storage to delivery, through a network of warehouses and shipping partners.

Locad takes the daunting task of fulfillment off e-commerce businesses’ hands, CEO and co-founder Constantin Robertz explains. “We describe ourselves as offering a logistics engine for the modern consumer brand in e-commerce,” Robertz added. “It’s a one-stop shop for the infrastructure at the back end of your business.”

Since its inception, Locad has served over 200 brands across Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia, and shipped more than 2 million orders while maintaining a 99% same-day order fulfillment rate.

“Ultimately, our goal is to enable a frictionless movement of physical goods and data across the supply chain for any brand and merchant, enabling anyone to sell anywhere, on any sales channel, and deliver seamlessly.” says Locad CEO and Co-founder Constantin Robertz, “As modern consumer brands are transforming to direct-to-consumer and omnichannel retail, we have seen that the supply chain and fulfillment infrastructure is a key barrier to scaling the business for many brands, and the bar is only rising further, due to higher customer expectations for fast delivery, and the complexity driven by an increasing number of sales channels.”

“We are excited to partner with Locad to bring holistic end-to-end e-commerce logistics solutions to brands across Asia Pacific.” shares Ervin Lim, Vice President of Reefknot Investments, “Locad’s unique operating model of localizing warehouses into the cities ensures that inventory is kept close to the customers thereby enabling significant cost and time savings for both brand and consumer. We believe that Locad’s logistics engine will spur greater participation in the digital economy as consumers outside of Tier-1 cities can now receive their orders 2-3x faster at a fraction of the usual cost.”

Locad’s logistics engine provides the backbone to support the e-commerce and omnichannel growth of global consumer brands such as Havaianas, Reckitt Benckiser, and Emma Sleep in the region, while also expanding access to best-in-class logistics infrastructure to growing D2C brands and mid-market merchants.

“Success in omnichannel commerce for modern consumer brands requires a powerful supply chain orchestrated by software that seamlessly integrates the infrastructure of warehouses and shipping carriers. And that’s what we’re building here at Locad” added Constantin Robertz.