China trucking platform Manbang raises $1.7b
Manbang Group, China's so-called "Uber for trucks" that matches shippers with drivers and fleet operators, has raised a $1.7 billion round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital China, Permira and Fidelity.
Existing investors Hillhouse Capital, GGV Capital, Lightspeed Capital Partners, Yunfeng Capital, Xiang He Capital, Baillie Gifford, All-Stars Investment, CMC Capital Group, and Tencent Holdings re-upped.
It is more than two years since Manbang - sometimes known as Full Truck Alliance - last received funding. In April 2018, Vision Fund led a $1.9 billion round that also featured CapitalG, the investment arm of Google parent company Alphabet, and the China Reform Fund. It valued Manbang at $6 billion.
The new capital will go towards improving the company's matching system and extending services into areas such as one-stop door-to-door freight delivery. Manbang claims that its big data-supported intelligent recommendation engine boosts transportation efficiency and reduces empty truck driving rates. It has more than 10 million certified drivers and five million certified shippers on its platform.
Long-haul trucking in China is notoriously fragmented and inefficient. According to a McKinsey & Company report, 95% of rig-drivers are either self-employed or work for small fleet operators. Only 1% of trucking companies employ more than 50 staff.
Manbang claims to have achieved profitability this year. In addition to its truck-hailing platform, the company also branched out into electronic toll collection, second-hand truck sales, vehicle maintenance, auto financing and insurance.
Manbang is the product of a 2017 merger of Huochebang and Yunmanman, both of which had received substantial PE and VC funding. Eastern Bell Venture Capital, Tencent, Genesis Capital, the International Finance Corporation, All-Stars and Baidu Capital were among Huochebang's backers. Yunmanman was supported by Lightspeed, Sequoia, and Yunfeng Capital.
Other participants in the online trucking space - with business models similar but not necessarily identical to Manbang - include Yimidida and G7. Their most recent funding rounds happened in 2019 and 2018, respectively, AVCJ Research's records show.
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