Flash in the pan?

Logistics challenger Flash Express is Thailand’s great startup hope—now it must deliver

Flash Express is all about big numbers. It claims to handle 1.3 million deliveries a day and it raised more funding in 2020 than the entire Thai startup ecosystem did the year before. But not all of its big numbers add up

Jon Russell, 3 Feb 2021

Flash quickly became one of Thailand’s top delivery services by offering the lowest prices and a convenient experience for customers

That’s fuelled by investors including Chinese backers, Thailand’s state-owned gas giant PTT and bank Krungsri

Flash is targeting a billion-dollar value and an IPO once it reaches 10 Southeast Asian countries; it also harbours fintech ambitions

But critics argue its numbers don’t add up and its loss-making business is reliant on raising money from investors

Thailand’s startup ecosystem raised a total of US$183 million from investors in 2019, according to a report report e-Conomy SEA 2020 report At full velocity: Resilient and racing ahead Read more by Google, Temasek, and Bain.

That marked impressive annual growth of nearly 50%, but one deal last year blew those numbers out of the water. In October 2020, three-year-old logistics company Flash Express announced announced TechCrunch Thailand’s logistics startup Flash Express raises $200 million Read more a US$200 million Series D funding round.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

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