Echelon

A multimillion-dollar international express delivery business came from a failed business venture. Ninja Van was founded by three young entrepreneurs who had to give up their struggling fashion line to focus their attention and resources on delivering more than a million parcels daily to customers of some of the leading retailers in the region.

Also read: Grab vs Gojek: Whose strategy should you follow?

The e-commerce touch

Ninja Van’s technology-led model is crucial to its success. It addressed poor logistics infrastructure that posed challenges for retailers and customers and tapped the region’s active and fast-growing e-commerce markets.

Responsible scale up

It was not an easy journey for Ninja Van to go beyond Singapore, but the progress was quick. Instead of growing at all costs, the founders assured of growth “in a responsible manner.” They focused on the people, the customers, and the services, allowing them to achieve profitability.

So, what is Ninja Van’s secret?

Ninja Van has grown and achieved financial sustainability over the years, but how did it handle all the nitty-gritty? At the Echelon Asia Summit 2022, Adriel Yong, Investment Analyst at Orvel Ventures, will explore Ninja Vans’ success in a fireside chat: Pursuing sustainable growth – how Ninja Van increased their growth margin from 8% to 60%. In addition, Alvin Teo, Chief Partnerships Officer at Ninja Van, will be there to answer questions raised about the company’s business model, including:

How did founders think about growth five years ago, especially when the capital was much more accessible and investors might not have been as concerned about near-term profitability?
What were some of the critical decisions and actions taken to improve the business?
What were the difficult tradeoffs that the founders made in pursuit of better margins?
What methods were tried but didn’t work?
Where is Ninja Van focused on, and what does growth mean for it in the next few years?

Also read: Echelon 2022: The rise of a new startup profitability culture

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Echelon Asia Summit 2022 (October 27-28) returns after a three-year hiatus. It aims to gather the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

Echelon

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