SAME-DAY delivery service Lalamove said it is bullish on the logistics market in the Philippines, and is seeking to hire “tens of thousands” of delivery drivers by 2018 to exploit a gap in the offerings of traditional express-delivery firms.

Lalamove Philippines Country Director Albert Go, in an interview, said the company expects driver staffing to expand rapidly because “the demand’s been really good, and we’re always playing catch-up. Right now we have a couple of thousand drivers; to reach the tens of thousands is something we want to achieve by next year, we want to be very aggressive about it.”

He noted that the logistics market typically offers next-day service at best.

Lalamove, founded as EasyVan in Hong Kong in 2013, operates in China and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Lalamove Philippines started last year.

Mr. Go told BusinessWorld that leading clients are food businesses, specifically companies that service customers with specific dietary requirements, a business which has become viable because of the healthy-eating trend.

As of October, Lalamove Philippines claimed 30,000 users.

Lalamove currently delivers to Metro Manila and surrounding areas, as far as Imus, Cavite and Taytay, Rizal.

“There’s a big market for specific types of businesses and deliveries that are extremely urgent. We expect expansion of service areas not only by next year, but maybe even in the coming months. We’re probably the fastest in Southeast Asia. Overall, there will be substantial investment in the Philippines.”

Lalamove obtained $100 million in its latest financing round from, among others, Shunwei Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm started by the founder of electronics and software company Xiaomi. Previous investors were Xiang He Capital from China and MindWorks Ventures from Hong Kong.

Lalamove Philippines offers delivery by motorcycle, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and vans.

“We offer many services. We are the most complete,” Mr. Go said.

Lalamove claims an estimated pickup time of 55 minutes.

“We tend to be a bit more expensive, because we deliver your items right away… Speed and reliability is something most businesses would value,” Mr. Go said. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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