Vietnamese startup HeyU announced Wednesday that it has launched its operation in Ho Chi Minh City and will also roll out its concierge services similar to what Gojek has in Indonesia.
With an aim to become an all-in-one concierge assistant platform, within this month HeyU plans to launch services that will allow users to appoint errand runners from the company to buy groceries, or shop on their behalf.
Vietnam’s on-demand consumer market already has similar service providers such as Lozi, and Now.vn—a part of Foody that got acquired by Sea for USD 64 million in 2017. Gojek operates in Vietnam as Go-Viet and has not been able to roll out concierge services in the country yet.
Founded in 2017, HeyU, formerly known as San Ship, is an instant delivery platform designated for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh suburban areas, connecting store owners (merchants) with available motorbike riders (shippers).
HeyU’s CEO Pham The Anh claimed that his startup’s shipping services are different than Grab and Go-Viet’s parcel delivery services in Vietnam. According to Pham, HeyU’s shippers instantly deliver for store owners and can provide cash-on-delivery services up to VND 3 million (USD 130) per order.
Pham said for the first year HeyU operated as a bootstrapped company and did not raise any institutional funding from VCs. He primarily relied on Facebook groups to extend the network of shippers and store owners. HeyU said their merchants are free to decide shipping fees and the company only takes 18% commission from shippers.
In 2018, HeyU raised USD 500,000 from NextTech Group, which also backed ride-hailing FastGo and a slew of other tech startups such as lending platform Vaymuon and e-wallet Vimo. Currently, HeyU is in the process of raising Series A funding from domestic and regional venture capitalists, and hopes to close this round at USD 3 million funding deal.