The Hong Kong based firm partners with SF Car (Wholly-owned subsidiary of SF Express HK), in move to expand into the crowdsourcing-based logistics and delivery market in Hong Kong, South China and Southeast Asia
HONG KONG/
PRNewswire/ -- Start-up crowdsourcing logistics and delivery platform
BBT, also known by its website address BB.TO, announced the completion of a Series A round of financing that raised several tens of millions of USD, with leading entrepreneurs from Hong Kong as the top investors in the round. Through the financing, BBT hopes to expand into crowdsourcing-based logistics and delivery markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, by further leveraging big data and professional technology support platforms.
BBT, a firm whose core technology is the proprietary big data and location-based services (LBS) that were developed inhouse, was founded in Guangzhou in March 2015. Initially focused on high-end point-to-point delivery, the courier service has now evolved into a premium logistics and delivery platform based on big data technology, with a footprint that extends to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan. The platform has more than 50,000 registered professional couriers, and has, to date, handled nearly 5 million calls for deliveries. When BBT launched a logistics solution in Hong Kong in 2017, the firm received plaudits from many industry heavyweights. With partners including Hong Kong's SF Car (Wholly-owned subsidiary of SF Express HK), a local parcel delivery service, and PCCW Limited, a publicly-traded telecommunications firm that plans to launch an e-commerce platform in the first quarter of 2018, the future looks promising for the courier turned logistics and delivery platform.
Breaking through the industry's bottlenecks, BBT has partnered with and received the support of industry leaders
The huge growth of the e-commerce and the online-to-offline service markets has been driving the rapid growth of the crowdsourcing-based logistics industries both in and outside of China. However, operational challenges, including unfair competition for business, the poor attitude of many of the couriers when they interact with clients and general inconsistency in the speed of delivery, have led to the need for outsized subsidies, cash flow issues related to delays in receiving and overall lack of capitalization, and dependence on traffic platforms, all of which have resulted in an industry bottleneck. BBT, with "100% speed, 100% service" as its motto, is committed to improving management and operations, service quality and the professionalism of its team of couriers, while providing cost-effective tailor-made logistics solutions by adopting an asset-light strategy. All of this has helped the platform receive recognition from many industry heavyweights, and facilitated this round of financing by gaining the confidence of investors who now believe that BBT has the potential to become an industry leader.
Assist SF Express Hong Kong in developing its takeaway delivery platform
Since entering Hong Kong in 2017, BBT has helped SF Car, the delivery platform of SF Express Hong Kong, develop a takeaway delivery counterpart. During the six months following the launch of the platform, the number of orders called in daily has skyrocketed. The system provided by BBT helped SF Car manage the order flow, the fleet and team of couriers, by distributing resources and improving cost efficiency. These changes vastly enhanced SF Car's competitiveness in the market and facilitated the long-term development of the company's business. The cooperation between the two parties has now entered a solid development stage, which is expected to be expanded to other logistics-based forms such as e-commerce and freight crowdsourcing.
Expand the footprint of the firm's "100% service, 100% speed" motto
BBT's professional logistics resource platform and proprietary big data system are committed to building out e-commerce and delivery businesses that truly make day-to-day life easier for their customers, including One-Click functionality, intelligent order delivery, enhanced customer service, channels for leaving comments that assure that they get read, assessed and integrated into future improvements, availability of insurance, and multilingual services. In tackling the issue of transparency around how quickly the just-ordered item reaches the door of the recipient, BBT's "Instant Order Acceptance" service allows users to track their orders every step of the way. As for intelligence, the platform is equipped with an industry-leading customized delivery solution, including a system that automatically calculates the most efficient delivery route and distributes the necessary resources swiftly. The ultimate goal of BBT is to become a bridge between merchants and consumers, provide the most cost-effective transport routes at a reasonable cost, all within the context of a meticulously-run operation, culminating in that most cherished aspect of a successful business: customer loyalty.
"After completing the financing, we, in addition to continuing to strengthen services for the mainland market, plan to speed up our entry into Hong Kong's takeaway delivery, express delivery and logistics markets, by leveraging the existing technology, data and experience that we accumulated as we built the business in mainland China," said KK Chiu, CEO of BBT. "We plan to grow our business further, with the next targets being Taiwan, the Philippines and tier-two cities in mainland China. The ultimate goal of BBT is to go global, to be the first intra-city logistics company in China to do so, and to serve as a model for peers who follow in our footsteps."
About BBT
BBT, also well-known by its website URL, BB.TO, was developed by an experienced team of technology, commerce, operations and HR professionals from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Shareholders of the company include leading multinational company The KHO Group Limited, as well as Ronald Joseph Arculli, former chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Non-official Members Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong (Exco), among others. The firm is committed to offering users high-quality intra-city express delivery services, to improve their quality of life and enhance their lifestyle, by providing them with the access to high-quality, fast, effective and comprehensive services that meet the diversified demands of today's busy but discriminating consumer.
SOURCE BBT