Melbourne Rider's Killing Puts HungryPanda in the Spotlight: The Asian Delivery Platform Founded by Chinese Student Kelu Liu, Now in 80-Plus Cities Across 10 Countries

MELBOURNE — The killing of Chinese-Australian delivery rider Jianming Feng, stabbed while working in central Melbourne on the evening of November 6, has put the platform he rode for, HungryPanda, under the spotlight. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Chinese international student Kelu Liu, the company describes itself on its official website as the largest overseas Asian food-delivery platform, operating in more than 80 cities across 10 countries. After the attack, the company said it was helping Feng's family with visa arrangements, funeral costs and insurance matters, while the Victorian government pledged to review safety protections for gig-economy riders.

The facts of the case are brief. At about 8 p.m. on November 6, Feng, 47, and another rider confronted a man who was tampering with their bicycles on Frederick Way, near the Queen Victoria Market; Feng was stabbed and died at the scene, and the second rider, aged 34, was taken to hospital. Victoria Police arrested a 51-year-old man the next day. As GSM has previously reported, Feng came from China's Shaanxi Province, had delivered food in Australia for nearly nine years on a working holiday visa, and supported his wife, two children and four elderly parents back home. On the evening of November 7, hundreds held a candlelight vigil for him outside the State Library of Victoria, and the community launched a petition for rider safety.

HungryPanda started in Nottingham, England, in 2017. In a 2021 funding announcement, the company said founder Kelu Liu, a computer science graduate of the University of Nottingham, had experienced first-hand how hard it was to get authentic Chinese food on demand while studying abroad, and built the platform to serve overseas Chinese and Asian consumers. Headquartered in London, the company began with Chinese food delivery aimed at Chinese students and later expanded into Asian groceries and supermarket delivery. According to its official website, HungryPanda now operates in more than 80 cities across 10 countries — the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Singapore — working with over 80,000 riders and 100,000 merchants and serving more than 6 million users. In Australia, it acquired local Asian delivery platform EASI in January 2022 to build out its Australian business.

Investors have backed it heavily. In February 2020 the company raised $20 million in a round led by 83North and Felix Capital; that November it raised a $70 million Series C led by Kinnevik; and in December 2021 it announced a $130 million Series D led by Perwyn, taking its total raised to $220 million. In September 2024 it completed a $55 million raise led by Mars Growth Capital; TechCrunch reported a valuation of around $500 million and total funding of more than $275 million, and the company said it had reached profitability in 2024.

After Feng's death, HungryPanda said in a statement: "We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and the wider rider community," adding that its thoughts were also with the rider injured in the incident. According to Australian Associated Press (AAP), the company is assisting the family with visa arrangements, funeral expenses, financial support and insurance; it had earlier said it had set up a dedicated team to contact the family and reminded its riders to prioritise their personal safety at all times. In Australia, platform riders generally work as independent contractors rather than employees and sit outside employee-level workplace protections, which is why the extent of a platform's responsibility when a rider is killed has become a central question in this case.

Rider safety and protections have been debated in Australia for years. The Transport Workers' Union (TWU) has long campaigned for binding minimum standards for platform workers. After the federal Closing Loopholes reforms were legislated in 2024, the Fair Work Commission gained the power to set minimum standards for "employee-like" platform workers, and its first interim minimum standards order for on-demand delivery riders took effect on August 17, 2026, setting an earnings floor of A$31.30 to A$32 per hour of engaged time, depending on vehicle type. After this killing, Victorian Premier Ben Carroll vowed to make "whatever changes are necessary," saying he would keep working with the Transport Workers' Union and the state's police chief commissioner to keep gig workers safe, and describing gig workers as some of the most vulnerable Victorians who need proper protections and workplace safety. Christina Zhao, head of the Melbourne Chinatown Business Association, told AAP that riders had been voicing fears about their safety for many years. (Source: HungryPanda)

Related:

Chinese Citizen Killed in Melbourne CBD Stabbing; Chinese Consulate-General Demands a Full Investigation and Severe Punishment

Follow-Up: Hundreds Hold a Candlelight Vigil at Melbourne's State Library for Slain Rider Jianming Feng as the Community Petitions for Rider Safety

Source: HungryPanda

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：澳大利亚墨尔本市中心的维多利亚女王市场与周边街区（资料图），冯建明遇害的 Frederick Way 就在市场旁。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Bob Tan 摄，CC BY 4.0 授权。 / Photo: The Queen Victoria Market and surrounding streets in central Melbourne, Australia (file photo); Frederick Way, where Jianming Feng was killed, runs beside the market. Source: Wikimedia Commons, photo by Bob Tan, CC BY 4.0.

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