Lalamove
On-demand van and truck delivery platform connecting merchants and drivers across Asia.
On the record
Checkpoint: Seventh Hong Kong IPO filing outcome, decides if equity holders get a liquidity path
The call
Lalamove still dominates intra-city freight with over half the global market, but shrinking margins and a stalled IPO show the business is stronger than its path to public equity.
Lalamove runs a two-sided marketplace that connects merchants and drivers for same-day local freight delivery across 400+ cities, earning about 53% of the global market and 63% of China's market. It is hard for giant apps like Didi, Grab, and Meituan to copy because freight requires owning or managing dedicated vans and lorries city by city, not just phone calls and matching, but Lalamove's profit margins are shrinking (from 61% to 51% on revenue, from 12% to 11% as a cut of China sales) and it has tried and failed to go public seven times since early 2023, which means investors cannot easily cash out and the company may be losing leverage with lenders and partners. The one thing that could shift the picture is whether Lalamove finally succeeds in its next Hong Kong stock listing attempt around late April 2026, because a successful listing would unlock investor money and prove the business is stable, while another failure would signal deeper trouble.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI routing tools help Lalamove run its network better but no AI agent moves physical freight or replaces drivers yet. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Didi, Grab, Meituan, Gojek super-apps. These ride hailing and delivery giants could bolt freight onto their apps but none has proven it can pull volume from Lalamove yet. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Two sided network of 21.3 million merchants and 2.1 million drivers built city by city, hard to copy fast.
What would change this call
Outcome of Lalamove's 7th Hong Kong IPO filing (April 30, 2026) within six months. Shows whether public listing and equity liquidity path succeed after six prior failed attempts.
China gross margin and take-rate figures in 2026 H2 earnings reports. Shows whether pricing power erosion (50.5% margin, 10.9% take-rate) continues or stabilizes.
Didi, Grab, or Meituan announcing freight volume or share gains in a core Lalamove market. Would show super-app cross-selling is actually displacing Lalamove's dedicated freight network.
China gross margin and take-rate figures in 2026 H2 earnings reports. Shows whether pricing power erosion (50.5% margin, 10.9% take-rate) continues or stabilizes.
Didi, Grab, or Meituan announcing freight volume or share gains in a core Lalamove market. Would show super-app cross-selling is actually displacing Lalamove's dedicated freight network.
Key numbers
- 2025 revenue $2.14B, up 34% YoY
- Gross margin fell from 61.2% to 50.5%
- China take rate dropped from 12.2% to 10.9%
Named risks
- Seven failed Hong Kong IPO attempts since March 2023 create prolonged equity-liquidity uncertainty.
- Gross margin eroded from 61.2% (2023) to 50.5% (2025) alongside falling China take-rate.
- New gig-worker protection laws like Malaysia's Act 872 (effective March 2026) raise driver-classification costs.
- Founder Chow Shing-Yuk holds ~76.97% voting control via 25.05% equity, concentrating governance risk.
- Unproven new markets (Germany, Saudi Arabia launched 2026) carry execution risk.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Didi | contesting | Reportedly cross-selling freight from ride-hailing base in China, unverified as of 2026-05 |
| Grab | contesting | Southeast Asia freight/delivery expansion cited as competitive pressure, unverified |
| Gojek | contesting | Southeast Asia super-app diversifying into freight, unverified per vendor analysis |
| Meituan | contesting | Also a Lalamove investor while operating adjacent delivery/logistics in China |
| GoGoVan/95city | gaining on | Cited as historical direct regional rival in Hong Kong and Asia intra-city freight |
Questions people ask
- Is Lalamove profitable in 2025?
- Yes. Lalamove's parent Lalatech Holdings reported net profit of $447M in 2025, up 3% from $434M in 2024, on operating revenue of $2.139B, according to its April 2026 IPO prospectus data reported May 2, 2026.
- Has Lalamove gone public yet?
- No. As of July 23, 2026, Lalamove's parent Lalatech Holdings has filed for a Hong Kong Main Board listing seven times since March 2023, most recently on April 30, 2026, with all six prior attempts lapsing before completing a listing hearing.
- Who owns Lalamove?
- Lalamove is privately held; founder Chow Shing-Yuk, who founded the company in December 2013 as EasyVan, controls about 76.97% of voting rights via a 25.05% equity stake, per an April 2026 IPO prospectus.
- Could AI replace Lalamove?
- Unlikely soon. While AI can commoditize route optimization and dispatch matching, Lalamove's core moat is a physical two-sided network of about 21.3M average monthly merchants and 2.1M average monthly drivers across 400+ cities in 2025, which software alone cannot replicate.
- Who is Lalamove's biggest competitor?
- In China, Didi is often cited as cross-selling freight from its ride-hailing base; in Southeast Asia, Grab and Gojek are frequently named. These competitive claims come from vendor/analysis sources and are not independently verified as taking share from Lalamove.
- What market share does Lalamove hold?
- Lalamove reported 53.1% global market share in closed-loop intra-city freight and 63.1% share of Mainland China GTV as of 2024, per its April 2026 IPO prospectus data, alongside $12.36B in global freight GTV in 2025.
Timeline
- 2026-07-01Launched in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, tied to Saudi Vision 2030 logistics goals
- 2026-05-01Launched in Berlin, Germany, expanding into EMEA
- 2026-04-30Filed seventh Hong Kong Main Board listing application since March 2023
- 2026-03-31Malaysia's Gig Workers Act (Act 872) took effect, raising driver-classification costs
- 2025-06-01Launched DuoLa Auto NEV brand and DuoLa Bafang microvan
- 2025-01-01Obtained ISO 27701 privacy certification; partnered with HK Productivity Council on AI driving-safety system
- 2021-01-01Closed $1.5B Series F led by Hillhouse and HSG
- 2019-01-01Reached unicorn status after $300M Series D
- 2013-12-01Founded by Chow Shing-Yuk as EasyVan, rebranded Lalamove in 2014
Head to head
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Global GTV Tops $12.3 Billion, Falling Commission and Gross Margins Pose Concerns (2026-05-02)
- Lalamove
- Lalamove Stock for Accredited Investors (2026-07-07)
- Lalamove Hong Kong (2026-07-06)
- Lalamove Thailand Reports 30% Growth in 2025 (2026-02-23)
- Lalamove Issues Sustainability Report 2025 (2026-04-15)
- Lalamove Ride offers reliable alternative amid Metro Manila commuting struggle (2026-07-21)
- How Much Did Lalamove Raise? Funding & Key Investors (2025-10-09)
- Lalamove Company Growth, Stability & Outlook 2026 (2026-05-28)
- Gig Workers Act 2025