ByteDance Invests in Dubai-based iMile Delivery

People familiar with the matter said that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance had invested in iMile, a logistics company based in Dubai. This would be the the first major fundraising by the courier startup that services Chinese online vendors, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The company’s series A financing round, one of the Middle East’s largest by a female founder to date, raised $40 million and valued iMile at $350 million, according to a statement. ByteDance committed around $10 million at a lower valuation, the people said.

According to its official website, iMile is an e-commerce logistics company focusing on the market along with the Belt and Road Initiative. It was established in 2017 and is headquartered in Dubai. At present, it has R&D centers in Hangzhou and Shenzhen, covering the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

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Rita Huang, CEO and founder of the company, has previously worked for Alibaba and Huawei. As of October 2020, there are more than 500 employees and more than 25 warehouses in the Middle East and China. The company serves many customers including Shein, Fordeal, Amazon and Noon, the largest e-commerce company in the Middle East.