Ninja Van, or as some people like to spell it, Ninjavan, the logistics company that provides delivery services… Where do we even begin?
I have a love-hate relationship with Ninja Van Singapore. Being an avid online shopper, many of my purchases are delivered via Ninja Van.
You would probably have encountered Ninja Van delivery services too if you’ve bought stuff online.
The purchases earlier this year were fine, Ninja Van kept to their promises and provided “exemplary logistics services” (which they claimed on their website). But not with my recent experiences with them…
I’ll try to keep it neutral since I’ve experienced the good and bad. Here are eight bite-sized facts about Ninja Van you probably want to know now.
1. Five Years Young
Ninja Van Singapore was launched in 2014, so they’ve been in the market for about five years now at the time of writing.
2. How Its Name Came About
Their name ‘Ninja Van’ came into existence through their CTO, Shaun Chong. Ninja Van almost called themselves “Bobo the Postman“.
That would have been cute.
According to Lai Chang Wen, the CEO of Ninja Logistics, the parent company of Ninja Van, “Ninja Van [which uses the ninja as an emblem for the company] gives you the feeling that something will be done somehow, [with the sense of] efficiency and cutting edge.”
3. Originally A 3-Man Team…
They now have offices across South-east Asia, serving over 570 million customers and delivering more than 1,000 packages per minute.
4. 100% Southeast Asia Coverage
Filled with zest, they have made their presence known in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, garnering over $45 million in investments over the past three years.
That was three years back.
Today, they claimed to have 100% coverage across Southeast Asia, not too bad for a company that’s five years old, eh?
5. One Of Its Investors Includes Facebook Co-Founder
Yup, you didn’t read that wrong.
One of its investors, B Capital Group, is a venture capital firm whose founding partner is Facebook’s co-founder, Eduardo Saverin. Ninja Van received a whopping US$30 million from them!
6. Facebook Co-Founder Is A Superfan
Mr Saverin said, “As soon as I met him, he struck me as a smart and ruthlessly aggressive entrepreneur who would do whatever it takes to get it done.
“The example was just clearly laid in front of me. A mattress on the floor of his office where he would sleep most of the nights because that’s how hard he worked.”
And that’s not all. He adds, “Innovations like Facebook, even in the early days, were not these out-of-the-box brilliant thinking. It was replicating something that existed in the real world.
“So these are the types of businesses that create new markets and drive through real positive change. They’re not destructing, they’re enabling.”
7. Harnesses Crowdsourcing During Crunch Times
To meet the growing demands of their services, part-time drivers are activated to help them deliver more parcels and in a shorter period of time, easing the load on their existing drivers.
8. Employees Are Multi-Taskers
Gone are the days where one complains, “Why am I doing this ah, also NOT my job scope.”
At Ninja Van, engineers have to drive to understand how difficult it is operationally. Vice versa, people in the operations team have to “think of product specifications”.
