<article>Following its recent pre-Series A round, Thailand-headquartered e-commerce fulfilment startup Sokochan is looking to expand into Malaysia this October, its co-founder and chief strategy officer Adrian Stewart told DEALSTREETASIA.</article>

Following its recent pre-Series A round, Thailand-headquartered e-commerce fulfilment startup Sokochan is looking to expand into Malaysia this October, its co-founder and chief strategy officer Adrian Stewart told DEALSTREETASIA.
The regional expansion will be conducted through a joint venture with a local partner in Malaysia and the business will be operated under the Sokochan brand.
&#8220;Our joint venture partner is in the transportation and freight-forwarding businesses and has over 300 vehicles in its fleet with warehouses in three locations across Malaysia,&#8221; said Stewart.
The startup is also looking at expanding its business to the Philippines where it is currently in talks with a potential local partner to roll out its business as soon as the first quarter of 2019.
&#8220;We are also exploring the markets in CMLV (Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam) region. The model will always be a joint venture with strategic or established local businesses,&#8221; added Stewart.
In July, Sokochan had raised a six-figure USD pre-Series A round &#8211; a strategic investment by Thailand-listed Begistics PCL which resulted in the latter picking a 10 per cent stake in the startup.
Elaborating on the strategic investment by logistics conglomerate Begistics, Stewart said the 16-year-old logistics provider has many resources that could be jointly re-positioned into new business areas with Sokochan.
&#8220;For instance, they have customs clearance facilities which can be used to help us in cross-border business both inbound and outbound and the warehousing space which we can jointly utilize,&#8221; he said.
According to Stewart, the fresh funds will be used to boost Sokochan&#8217;s tech platforms and talent expansion as well as growing the business out of its home market in Thailand. Part of the funds will also be utilised for current warehouse facilities expansion.
&#8220;Sokochan was seeded by Galaxy Ventures six months into our operations in early 2015 and we raised a strategic [seed] round in October 2016 with individuals from Singapore and Japan who brought a combined 60 years of logistics industry experience.
&#8220;These &#8216;angels&#8217; helped us by providing expert industry knowledge and network connections which we lacked given our fresh entry into the logistics sector,&#8221; he said.
In 2017, Sokochan claimed to have tripled its revenue as compared to 2016. This year, it has already exceeded last year&#8217;s revenue since June and on top of that, the startup has been profitable at the operational level since January.
Stewart declined to elaborate on plans to raise a future funding round but said it might not necessarily be a funding round, hinting that the startup might look at options such as an IPO or M&amp;A.
Last year, Thailand saw quite a few large transactions in the logistics space. E-commerce fulfilment player aCommerce raised a <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/thailand-acommerce-closes-65m-series-b-led-by-emerald-media-86775/">$65-million Series B</a> round led by KKR-backed Emerald Media. Singapore-based Ninja Van secured <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/singapore-logistics-venture-ninja-van-closes-85m-series-c-90886/">$85 million</a> for its Series C early this year to strengthen its regional presence.
According to Google and Temasek&#8217;s SEA report, Southeast Asia&#8217;s internet economy is expected to grow to about $200 billion by 2025 with the e-commerce market taking the lead of $88 billion growth by then with a potential to reach $120 billion.
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/thailand-acommerce-closes-65m-series-b-led-by-emerald-media-86775/">KKR’s Emerald Media leads $65m Series B round into Thai startup aCommerce</a>

In July, Sokochan had raised a six-figure USD pre-Series A round, a strategic investment from Thailand-listed Begistics PCL.

Thai e-commerce enabler Sokochan to expand to Malaysia via JV

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