Buy&Ship, a Hong Kong-headquartered parcel forwarding and proxy shopping services provider, plans to kick off its Series C fundraising in the first half of 2025, CFO Jeff Zielinski told Mergermarket.

The third-party logistics provider is seeking investors who can add significant value to its growth trajectory. It favors financial backers with a proven track record in facilitating expansion and scaling operations to transform the business into a more sizeable and institutional entity, he noted.

Deal size will be “substantially bigger than USD 16m”, which is the total amount that it had raised in its Series B fundraising, he said, adding that this confidence stems from the fact that the Series B was “heavily oversubscribed.”

It has a Board of Advisors, but would consider speaking with advisors that could make investor referrals, he said.

Proceeds will be allocated to strengthening source geographies including Japan, the US, Canada, Thailand, South Korea, Australia and Europe, while also enhancing demand geographies such as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, he noted.

“We’ve only scratched the surface in our existing markets, and we want to keep growing fast within those markets,” he said.

Zielinski indicated its intention to implement strategic marketing initiatives aimed at enhancing its brand awareness among upper middle-class and high-income consumers, who are increasingly cognizant of international purchases, in its existing markets.

The company is also open to exploring inorganic growth, particularly through peer acquisitions, joint ventures (JV), and other partnerships, to ramp up its market penetration in existing markets, he continued, declining to disclose more details. It would also be open to speaking with advisors with opportunity referrals to this end, he added.

Buy&Ship raised USD 6m in an additional Series B round in June 2024, led by Altara Ventures, with participation of KSK Angel, AVA Angels, and VU Venture Partners. This follows the startup’s USD 10m investment from Cool Japan Fund in September 2023, bringing its total Series B capital to USD 16m, as reported.

As of today, the company has bagged USD 22.2m in the capital markets, Zielinski said.

IPO, sale among exit routes

Buy&Ship is exploring an initial public offering (IPO) or a trade sale as a potential exit strategy, Zielinski noted.

There is no clear timeline for the plan, as “we’re just starting to explore opportunities in cross-border e-commerce. It’s still early days when it comes to exits and similar considerations,” he emphasized.

Buy&Ship remains focused on its growth, anticipating its revenue to surpass USD 50m for the fiscal year ending March 2025, with projections nearing USD 100m for the following fiscal year, he said, declining to provide other financials.

Zielinski highlighted that there are significant opportunities for future growth within the cross-border e-commerce sector in its existing markets, of which total addressable market (TAM) is expected to more than triple to USD 110bn in 2030 from the current USD 35bn in 2024, he added.

Established in 2014, Buy&Ship empowers consumers to buy products globally through big data, global pricing comparison, social commerce, and logistics technologies. The three co-founders – CEO Sheldon Li, COO Poon Wing-hang and CTO Wong Tsz-ming – have each been with the company for a decade since its inception and head up a team of 200 to 300 staff now, Zielinski said.

The company has expanded its services across 12 countries and regions, operating 11 overseas warehouses and handling over 12m packages to date, according to its website.

When it comes to new development, Buy&Ship has recently integrated automation into its Hong Kong operations, which is expected to enhance its parcel forwarding and proxy shopping services, Zielinski said. It is also planning to soft launch a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform buyandship.one today (9 December). This platform will allow consumers to view prices from various markets, select the best option, and have the products delivered directly to their homes, he continued.

Meanwhile, it is committed to integrating environmental factors into its daily operations. It has adopted a comprehensive waste reduction strategy that involves optimizing package sizes by consolidating multiple items into single shipments and compressing shipments. The move could reduce carbon emissions during transport, he noted.

Zielinski pointed out that Buy&Ship competes with rivals such as BEENOS’s [TYO:3328] Buyee and Aramex’s [DFM:ARMX] MyUS. He noted that Buy&Ship stands out by superior user-generated content offering, reliable and cost-effective logistics network, direct customer relationships for data insights, and positive customer feedback and competitive pricing.