Shippit acquires Singaporean logistics startup Luwjistik for $18 million

Australian logistics tech company Shippit is ramping up operations in Southeast Asia (SEA) after today announcing the acquisition of Singapore-based logistics SaaS platform Luwjistik for $18 million.

The move comes almost seven months after the company purchased last mile logistics tech platform Premonition for an undisclosed sum, and follows a $65 million Series B2 capital raise which helped bolster operations in SEA.

The buy-out will see Shippit co-founder and co-CEO William On relocate to Singapore to spearhead the new expansion and manage Luwjistik's existing team of 50 staff, building on two years of operations in the region for the Sydney-based firm.

“Today is an incredibly exciting day for Shippit and the realisation of a vision we’ve held since starting out in 2014. Adding Luwjistik to the Shippit group bolsters our team with co-founders who possess significant industry knowledge and relationships that will transform our go-to-market strategy in the region,” said On, who won the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneur Digital Disruptor Award alongside his co-founder Rob Hango-Zada.  

“This strategic move will expand our growing and scaling business through product localisation and new market entry beyond Singapore. By offering multi-partner shipping from Luwjistik’s carrier partners, it’ll also enable us to diversify our offering; enabling small-to-medium sized logistics providers to expand their reach by accessing Luwjistik network partners. It’ll also enable us to explore and execute key partnerships in the region. 

“Southeast Asia is a burgeoning e-commerce market and we’re incredibly excited to expand our presence in Singapore, and across the region. Together with Luwjistik, we will continue to prioritise technology that tackles the challenges of rapid e-commerce growth across the online retail ecosystem.” 

Founded only a year ago by Syed Ali Ridha Madihid and Wong Yingming, Luwjistik uses a unified application programming interface (API) that allows freight forwarders, couriers and third-party logistics companies to connect with network partners globally.

The startup has more than 100 network partners across 18 countries and works alongside carriers such as Ninja Van, J&T Express and JNE Express, as well as logistics players like Maersk, POS Malaysia, Lion Parcel and Summer International.

Within a month of starting Luwjistik, the duo secured US$1.1 million (AUD$1.7 million) in a seed round led by East Ventures, with participation from MDI-Finch’s Arise and Global Founders Capital.

Madihid says he’s known Will since the early days of Shippit and has always considered him and the team to be market leaders in Australia with a leading product, value proposition and vision for e-commerce.

“This is a hugely significant moment for Luwjistik, a company which is barely a year old, to be recognised for its vision and efforts in elevating the logistics and retail sectors in Southeast Asia. We started Luwjistik because we saw technology as the solution to many of the industry’s longer-term challenges,” Madihid said.

“Together with Shippit, we will be able to offer the full spectrum of products and solutions to all clients; from domestic to cross-border, and from end-to-end to modular services. I strongly believe that by combining our strengths, we can continuously innovate and offer the most impactful, reliable and relevant solutions to a fast-changing, dynamic market.”

“We expect the strong growth of e-commerce in SEA will continue, so Shippit and Luwjistik coming together is very timely. As a group, we’re now able to offer a one-stop platform for not only enterprises but the growing SMEs segments - especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.”

In FY22, more than 40 million deliveries were booked through the Shippit platform. Since launching in 2014, Sydney-based Shippit has fulfilled $5.5 billion worth of e-commerce orders for more than 3,500 retailers.