Yunniao Logistics \China

Step 2 - End-to-End Logistics Platform (Validation, Months 4-9): Expand to full logistics orchestration by integrating 3-5 regional carriers (Vietnam Post, Kerry Express, DHL eCommerce) via APIs and building merchant dashboard for shipment booking and tracking. Add dynamic routing algorithm using Google OR-Tools that selects optimal carrier based on cost, delivery time, and reliability for each shipment. Launch merchant financing offering net-30 payment terms (fund from founders' capital or revenue-based financing) to create lock-in. Target 100 merchants processing 10,000 shipments per month. Success metric is achieving 15 percent gross margin per shipment (revenue minus carrier costs and customs fees) and 60 percent merchant retention after 3 months. Validate that financing creates switching costs by measuring churn rate for merchants using financing (target under 5 percent monthly) versus those paying upfront (expect 15-20 percent monthly churn).

Step 3 - Geographic and Product Expansion (Growth, Months 10-18): Expand to Thailand and Indonesia merchants, add EU and UK as destination markets, and extend product categories to consumer electronics and beauty products. Build proprietary customs clearance prediction model trained on 50,000+ shipments to forecast clearance times with 85 percent accuracy, enabling guaranteed delivery time SLAs (5-day delivery or refund 50 percent of shipping cost). Raise $2-3M seed round to fund merchant financing at scale (offer net-60 terms to all merchants, requiring $500K-1M in working capital). Hire 5-person ops team using Retool dashboard to manage exceptions and carrier performance. Target 500 merchants processing 100,000 shipments per month at $15 average revenue per shipment, reaching $1.5M monthly GMV and $225K monthly revenue (15 percent take rate). Success metric is maintaining 15 percent gross margin while scaling 10x volume, proving unit economics work at scale.

Step 4 - Moat Building Through Data and Financing (Defensibility, Months 19-24): Deepen moat by leveraging proprietary data accumulated from 500,000+ shipments. Build AI models that predict customs clearance times, optimal carrier selection, and fraud risk with accuracy incumbents cannot match. Expand merchant financing to net-90 terms for high-volume merchants, creating deep lock-in (switching means losing 90 days of cash flow). Launch value-added services that integrate into merchant operations: inventory forecasting (predict demand in US/EU markets using shipment data), dynamic pricing recommendations (optimize product prices based on shipping costs), and automated returns processing (handle reverse logistics for defective products). Target 1,000 merchants processing 300,000 shipments per month, reaching $4.5M monthly GMV and $675K monthly revenue. Success metric is achieving 50 percent of revenue from merchants using financing (proving lock-in works) and reducing customer acquisition cost by 60 percent through word-of-mouth referrals (NPS above 60). Position for Series A ($10-15M) or acquisition by Shopify, Flexport, or Southeast Asian e-commerce platform seeking to vertically integrate logistics.