SoftBank leads $1.9b funding round for China’s Manbang

CapitalG, the investment arm of Google parent company Alphabet, also participated in the round, as did Hong Kong-based Ward Ferry Management, Farallon Capital, Baillie Gifford and the China Reform Fund. Manbang will use the fresh capital to develop new business areas, recruit talent and expand into new markets.

Manbang operates a smart phone app that connects shippers with truckers, similar to car-hailing services like Uber. The company aims to boost the efficiency of China’s trucking industry, in which 90% of trucks are owned by individual drivers who rely on crowded service centers to sign up for jobs and trucks stand empty up to 40% of the time.

Currently Manbang claims 5.2 million of China’s seven million truck drivers are signed up with the app. In addition to its truck-hailing platform, Manbang also provides after-market services and financing solutions for truck drivers, and is exploring international expansion and new market sectors such as electric and driverless vehicles.

Manbang was formed last year through the merger of rival online trucking platforms Huochebang and Yunmanman, both of which had received substantial private equity and venture funding. Huochebang’s backers include Eastern Bell Venture, Tencent Holdings and Genesis Capital – each of which led a separate tranche of its $100 million Series A round – along with the International Finance Corporation, All-Stars Investment and Baidu Capital.

Yunmanman received seed funding in 2013 from Gang Wang, who is now the CEO of Manbang, and went on to raise several rounds of funding from Lightspeed China Partners, Sequoia Capital and Yunfeng Capital.

SoftBank is investing from its Vision Fund, which launched in 2016 and reached a first close of over $93 billion the following year. The fund targets minority and majority positions in private and public companies, ranging from start-ups to established businesses, and focusing on technology-related sectors including the internet of things, artificial intelligence, robotics, telecom and communications infrastructure, and financial technology.

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