www.foodtechnology.co.nz 5 Two Wellington entrepreneurs are poised to push their food delivery business Food Ninja to the next level, with the signing of a new technology investment deal with digital platform provider Global Line Network. Woei Siang Lim (pictured right) was part way through his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Victoria University when he founded Food Ninja in 2013 and, with fellow alumnus Vincent Wong (centre) at his side, took the already-established business to the university’s Entrepreneur Bootcamp in 2015 with a view to learning how to run it in a smarter way. Since then, the pair have continued to grow the online food ordering and delivering company in Wellington, and have also been looking for ways to upscale their operations and expand into other regions and countries as several competitors emerge. The deal with Global Line Network, which deals with fleet management and distribution in Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines, is a perfect match as technology plays a huge role in the food delivery business, Lim says. GLN’s depth of experience with software development will give Food Ninja operational efficiencies which can be scaled up as the business grows, and the team will be able to learn from the company about growing the business into new areas. “Without giving too much away, a new customer app will automate much of the ordering process, making it easier and faster to order, while a supporting back-end app will increase the speed and efficiency of delivery to improve the overall customer experience,” Lim says. GLN’s chief executive officer Sebastian Tan (pictured left) says it’s a winwin partnership. “We’ve wanted to break into the Oceania market for some time now—particularly New Zealand, as we see vast potential for the adoption of new apps here over the next five to 10 years,” Tan says. “Any profits we make from the Food Ninja partnership will be reinvested into New Zealand as we seek to grow our other operations here.” Introduced through a mutual friend, Tan and the Food Ninja team are excited about working together. “Siang and Vincent are smart, committed businessmen,” Tan says. “They know what they INNOVATION FOOD NINJA CLINCHES TECHNOLOGY DEAL want, and then they go out and get it. I’m really looking forward to working with such strong, entrepreneurial attitudes.” The Food Ninja founders studied at Victoria Business School—Siang graduated in 2014 with majors in Economics and Management, and Vincent in 2012 with majors in e-Commerce and Management. They admit that Food Ninja’s entrepreneurial journey has not been an easy one. “We needed all the support we could get, so having our early investors and Viclink (Victoria’s commercialisation office) stand beside us while we worked to establish our market in the beginning has been invaluable,” Lim says, “and now we’re ready to take it to the next level with the support of GLN.” www.foodninja.nz
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