Thai delivery app Line Man raises $110m from BRV Capital

By Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.

July 30, 2020

Line Man, an on-demand delivery startup launched in Thailand by Japanese chat app LINE Corp, announced that it has raised $110 million in investment from growth capital firm BRV Capital Management (BRV).

The investment comes as Line Man is merging with Thai restaurant review and discovery platform Wongnai Media Co Ltd (Wongnai), which has more than 10 million users each month. Line Man currently has over 3 million users per month.

The fresh investment from BRV, which is the largest for any entity in the Line Group that offers overseas signature services, aims to strengthen the newly merged entity and expand its development, as it continues to grow in the Thai market, Line Man said.

Launched in 2016, the app offers a variety of services, including food delivery, convenience goods delivery, and parcels, in addition to the messenger and taxi-hailing services in Thailand.

It currently operates in Bangkok and several areas including Nonthaburi, Samutprakarn, Nakornprathom, Samutsakorn, Ayuthaya, Chonburi, Pattaya City, and Chiang Mai.

Eunjung Lee, Head of Global Business for Southeast Asia at Line Plus Corporation, said the investment from BRV Capital Management “will help take Line Man to the next level”.

Wongnai, on the other hand, currently operates in nine cities across Thailand. It also has the largest restaurant database in the country, covering over 400,000 eateries.

The investor, BRV Capital, is an affiliated entity of BlueRun Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that led early rounds in PayPal, Waze (acquired by Google), now Nasdaq-listed Coupa, and Kabbage. It has an active presence across six cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Menlo Park in California.

BRV said it decided to invest in Line Man because of the company’s “ongoing successes” at delivering innovative services for the Thai market.

The latest investment also comes at a time when the Thai government has approved in June measures to regulate food and online services in the country.

Last April, Thailand’s anti-monopoly watchdog warned food delivery platforms that they could face fines if they are found guilty for overcharging.

Line Man competes with Grab and Food Panda in Thailand.

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In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

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  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
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