(Corrects spelling of Lai in final para)

By Anshuman Daga

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Southeast Asian logistics provider Ninja Van is sufficiently capitalised after raising $578 million and it could be about 18 months before it taps public markets for an IPO, the head of the Singapore-based company said on Monday.

On Sunday, Ninja Van said it added Alibaba (NYSE:) Group as an investor in its late stage funding round. Existing investors such as European parcel delivery network GeoPost/DPDgroup, Monk’s Hill Ventures and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:). Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Ninja Van Group’s B Capital Group was also part of the round.

In an interview, Lai Chang Wen (co-founder, CEO, Ninja Van Group) stated that at the moment we have sufficient funding.

It’s not difficult to raise capital because there’s so much interest in the company. We are not in a rush to make an initial public offer,” Lai, who is a former derivatives trader added.

The funding comes as fintech and e-commerce companies in Southeast Asia are raising hefty amounts of capital https://www.reuters.com/world/the-great-reboot/southeast-asia-tech-dealmaking-booms-investors-place-post-covid-bets-2021-08-27, with global investors betting on post-pandemic technology plays.

Launched in 2014, Ninja Van is benefiting from a boom in e-commerce, a market that is forecast to nearly treble to $172 billion by 2025 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeast-asia-technology-idUSKBN27Q0CB. It also counts Bukalapak, Sea’s Shopee, and Alibaba Group’s Lazada as clients.

Lai answered a question about when a company might list publicly. He said that it would take at least 18 months for the company to go public and suggested the U.S. as a potential listing location.

He stated that the U.S. public investor pool is better suited to understanding companies like ours.

Ninja Van has raised nearly $400 million in total. It delivers approximately 2 million parcels per day, and anticipates continued strong growth for many years.

Lai said that the story of Ninja Van isn’t over in just a few years. He pointed out strong growth in social commerce, market places and trust between consumers as well as the establishment of logistics and payments infrastructure.