Lalamove, the Hong Kong-based on-demand delivery startup, announced yesterday it has closed a US$10M funding round led by China's Crystal Stream Capital. Other investors include Geek Founders, Mindworks Ventures, Sirius Venture Capital, Aria Group, and individual investors.

According to Lalamove board member Blake Larson, the funding will be used to ramp up expansion across Southeast Asia and mainland China. Its app is live in Singapore and Thailand, and has been accessible in Shenzhen and Guangzhou since mid-December. Taipei residents should be able to use it in the coming weeks, according to Larson.

Larson tells Tech in Asia that Lalamove's operations in mainland China will be run by Shing Chow, the company's CEO and cofounder. Larson will oversee all other Asian markets for the time being.

“A lot of investors will typically advise companies to do China or Southeast Asia, but not both, because China is its own animal,” says Larson. “You don't see a lot of cross over. Look at Kuaidi and Didi, for example – they're in China in 300 cities, and they don't need to be in any other countries. Shing is Hong Kongese but is born in China, speaks Mandarin and Cantonese, and obviously in Shenzhen and Guangzhou that will come in handy.”

Recognizing the power of WeChat, the team has integrated its services into the popular messaging app with an official account.

Mainland China will be a market to watch for Lalamove. For one thing, logistics is a hot space in the Middle Kingdom, with the nation's internet giants sinking in large sums of money into improving delivery infrastructure. Last year Alibaba invested hundreds of millions of dollars into China Smart Logistics, which it now owns a 48 percent stake in according to The New York Times. Tencent, meanwhile, purchased an 18 percent stake in e-commerce company JD, which is famous for its robust delivery network. It also helped give US$16 million to Renren Kuaidi, a Kozmo-esque delivery startup. That's pennies for Tencent, but it nevertheless shows that the stuff-on-demand dream is alive and well in China.