(Yicai Global) Aug. 30 -- Alibaba-backed Kuaigou Dache, China's second-largest intra-city freight platform per transaction value, has filed to go public in Hong Kong to expand its business.

The rival of van-hailing platform Huolala would use the proceeds of the listing to increase its online marketing, improve its research and development, develop new services, and attract more users, the Beijing-based company said recently in its prospectus, without disclosing the intended fundraising scale.

In China's mainland, the logistics sector that deals with consignments within one city, is predicted to grow to CNY2.12 trillion (USD327.8 billion) by 2025 from last year's CNY1.23 trillion, the firm wrote in its prospectus, citing a third-party data provider.

The platform, which is the successor of freight service provider 58 Express, changed its name to Kuaigou Dache in August 2018. Last year, the company had a 5.5 percent market share in intra-city express delivery in China, ranking No. 2. The firm operates in 340 cities in five countries and regions.

Kuaigou Dache has gone through five rounds of funding with renowned investors. Home service platform 58 Daojia has a 51.2 percent stake in the company, followed by logistics firm GoGoVan with its 17.8 percent stake. Moreover, e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding holds 16 percent of the firm's shares.

The platform is recovering from the global hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first four months of this year, Kuaigou Dache’s revenue jumped 51 percent to CNY193.4 million (USD29.9 million) from a year ago. Its net loss was narrowed by 55 percent to CNY252.8 million.

In 2020, the company made CNY534 million in revenue, falling 3 percent from 2019. Its net loss was CNY658 million. Over the past three years, its total net loss has tallied CNY1.9 billion (USD293.8 million).

Some 3.2 million clients placed 27.1 million orders through the platform in 2020, dropping 19 percent from 2019, due to the epidemic. The firm's transaction value slid 19 percent to CNY2.7 billion.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi