Food Delivery App Becomes Thailand Newest Unicorn After $265 Million Fund Raise

Line Man Wongnai has become the latest unicorn in Thailand after the food delivery delivery app raised $265 million in a funding round led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Japanese tech giant Line, along with Taiwan Mobile, BRV Capital Management and PTT Oil & Retail Business contributed to the Series B round, which boosted the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion, Line Man Wongnai said in a statement on its website. The company plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its food delivery business, expand into new services and upgrade its technological infrastructure.

The startup—which is also backed by billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group—was established in 2020 following the combination of Line Man’s on-demand platform and Wongnai restaurant review services into an e-commerce app. It competes with Singapore-based superapp Grab and Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda in Thailand.

Line Man Wongnai, which says it has more than 700,000 restaurants on its platform and created 100,000 delivery jobs across Thailand, saw its business take off during the pandemic as consumers holed up at home turned to food deliveries. The company said it’s aiming to have an initial public offer (IPO) within the next few years.

At least three other unicorns have emerged from Thailand in recent years, including logistics and courier service Flash Group, digital payments firm Ascend Money and crypto exchange Bitkub.