The FIT plans on solidifying its position as the wellness ecosystem leader with the acquisition

The FIT Company, Indonesia-based startup that focusses on an active and healthy lifestyle, announced that it has acquired three local startups to further develop the wellness ecosystem in the country. The three startups are Slim Gourmet, Wellnez Indonesia, and FITCO.

“This expansion is our way to continue our vision to have a wellness ecosystem in Indonesia, to create a healthier public,” said Jeff Budiman, CEO dan Co-founder The FIT Company.

Slim Gourmet is a healthy catering service by five different chefs with different specialties, advised by professional dietitian and based on factors such as allergies, medical history, and dietary needs of each customer. It was acquired in April 2019.

The second acquisition done is Wellnez Indonesia, a company that has 50 database coaches across the country. The FIT Company hopes to spark further collaboration with Wellnez Indonesia to create a more positive ecosystem for coaches and members alike.

The third company acquired is FITCO, an app that gives incentives to streetwalkers. The service is designed to record numbers of steps and achievements of each user to reward them as appreciation and motivation to walk more.

Also Read: Thai corporate innovation firm RISE expands AI accelerator program to Singapore

The acquisition of FITCO will see the platforms integrated with one another, making FITCO’s features available in The FIT.

There are several wellness arms that The FIT carries, from sports, nutritious food, to daily products.

In the third quarter this year, The FIT Company said that it plans to launch an integrated wellness service under one application. Through the application, users can choose coaches as well as choosing healthy menu according to their needs.
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Image Credit: The FIT Company

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The suspension will have no effect on full time employees at Honestbee Malaysia

Honestbee to suspend food and grocery delivery services in Malaysia from July 22 [The Star]

Honestbee has announced that it will be temporarily suspending both its food and grocery delivery services in Malaysia from July 22 onward, stating that no delivery slots will be available from then until further notice.

“After a strategic review of our company’s businesses, our headquarters in Singapore has made a firm decision to temporarily suspend our operations in Malaysia. This is to ensure we can meet our financial commitments to our merchants, partners and suppliers as we carefully review the future of our operations,” Honestbee Malaysia said in a press statement to The Star.

The suspension will have no effect on full time employees at Honestbee Malaysia, while riders and shopper Bees “currently working with us will have the option to pursue other career paths when the opportunity arises, but most certainly be welcomed to rejoin the course of our business when we restore operations”, the company stated.

Indonesia’s Astra launches JV with Go-Jek to revive languishing car sales [DealStreetAsia]

Astra International, Indonesia’s largest automobile distributor, on Thursday launched a joint venture with Go-Jek to provide cars to the ride-hailing firm.

The move, which comes on the heels of an overall US$250 million investment in Go-Jek, is aimed at boosting Astra’s already-strong market dominance, despite a dismal full-year outlook for countrywide car sales.

“The outlook for the country’s overall car sales is between 1.05 million and 1.1 million units for 2019,” Astra President and Director Prijono Sugiarto told reporters, a dive from 1.5 million units sold in 2018.

EBay picks up over 5% stake in Paytm Mall [The Economic Times]

Ebay has picked up a 5.5 per cent stake in Paytm Mall, as the San Jose-based online marketplace makes another attempt to get a slice of the Indian e-commerce market.

Ebay said its global inventory will be available to over 130 million active users on Paytm Mall and Paytm’s app ecosystem as part of the deal.

The companies did not disclose the investment amount, but sources close to the transaction said the financing round is about US$150 million.

Japan to lead development of SWIFT network for cryptocurrency: source [Reuters]

Japan’s government is leading a global push to set up an international network for cryptocurrency payments, similar to the SWIFT network used by banks, in an effort to fight money laundering, a person familiar with the plan said on Thursday.

Tokyo aims to have the network in place in the next few years, the person said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public.

A team related to the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will monitor its development and Japan will cooperate with other countries, the source said.

Hong-Kong based adtech startup OneOneDay launches in India [press release]

OneOneDay, a Hong Kong-based adtech startup, has recently launched the Oodies app in India. This app allows users to earn cash rewards and donate part of it to social causes by watching advertisements of their choice.

The app is available in India for Android users nation-wide.

On Oodies, users choose the ads they want to watch, and get rewarded in cash for their time and attention.

Every time an ad is watched, a portion of the advertising revenue goes to fund a social cause. For its launch in India, Oodies has chosen to tackle the issue of women’s safety by providing safe last-mile rides to women in Delhi.

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Describing itself as “Xiaohongshu with a twist”, The Shonet closed a seed funding round by Maloekoe Ventures in March this year

Earlier this year, Indonesian social media platform The Shonet closed an undisclosed seed funding round by Maloekoe Ventures.

But in an interview with e27 at the company’s office in South Jakarta, The Shonet CEO & Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Kurniawan reveals that it is currently raising for a new funding round.

“Since our growth had surpassed our projection, we are now raising to keep up with our growth,” she says.

Launched in May 2017, The Shonet is a social networking platform that is aimed for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle (FBL) experts –from vloggers, bloggers, to practitioners such as makeup artists and fashion stylists.

For a start, users can curate and share FBL products that they are recommending (“mix-and-match”), based on the inventory that is available on the platform –just like in Pinterest.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, February: Fashion e-commerce platform Zilingo

But once they have stepped up to the next level –becoming “insiders”– they will unlock the ability to produce their own content, in the form of articles. These insiders are also allowed to share their portfolio, enabling them to gain a wider audience for their works.

“We are basically a product search platform. Instead of going to five different e-commerce sites to look for a product, users can search for the trending product on The Shonet,” Kurniawan says.

“Fashion and beauty are defined by people. We give power for them to connect, create, and share their inspirations. That’s the future we are looking at,” she stresses.

Kurniawan says that The Shonet currently has over 7.5 million visitors with four to five million monthly active users.

The platform has recently introduced a new category for men’s FBL products, and according to Kurniawan, it has helped widen their audience and attributed to the company’s growth.

“We launched a men’s segment because we see a gap in the market. Since its launch, our visitors increased by two million in a month,” she says.

Also Read: Fashion and music take centre stage at Jakarta’s TOP100 announcement

Having been bootstrapped for two years, The Shonet monetises through advertisement on the platform.

In the future, the platform aims to add an e-commerce element by enabling insiders to sell services –such as makeup artists or fashion stylists– on the platform.

“We grow based on [the spirit of] community and we have a content-based approach … so users are acquired through word-of-mouth,” Kurniawan explains.

“Take the example of makeup artists and stylists, back in the days, magazines were considered as a home for them. But time has changed and with The Shonet, they can display all our their portfolio there, give tips for users … It is like Facebook or LinkedIn but for FBL,” she continues.

For these insiders, the startup also routinely hosts offline training programme on various topics such as SEO and content writing.

“We are just like Xiaohongshu but with a twist. The twist is in the social network and community element,” Kurniawan points out.

Also Read: Indonesian fashion e-commerce site Sale Stock changes its name to Sorabel

Growing fast

 

Kurniawan is an example of startup founders who started out their career in other field but tech.

She pursued her career as a fashion buyer in the US before returning to Indonesia to work in retail, also as a buyer.

Her introduction to the Indonesian startup ecosystem happened when she was working at IDN Media –an online media company that has recently made its foray to e-sports with the acquisition of GGWP.ID.

During her time at IDN Media, Kurniawan helped build FBL news platform POPBELA from scratch.

“That’s when I saw the opportunity to build something with digital media. In the old days, people used to look up to the media to discover lifestyle trends. But today we are looking up to individuals,” she says.

“If we want to build trust among Millennial and Gen-Z, we need to create a social network,” she adds.

Also Read: Thai fashion e-tailer Pomelo officially launches in Malaysia

Run by a team of 35, The Shonet is currently expanding its tech team, with the goal to grow the company into a 50-person team.

When asked about their targets for the fundraising, Kurniawan was not able to disclose the figures. But she says that the company’s plan is to dominate the Indonesian market for FBL platforms –and eventually, Southeast Asia.

“What keeps me awake at night? [The thought] that we are not growing fast enough,” she stresses.

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Image Credit: The Shonet

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Some products or services get more demand when you charge a fee

For the last year, we’ve been running a program called CTOTalk from our Chennai office. It’s been a big success for us, and a great way to connect with some of the best technology minds from product companies in India. We’ve heard from the CTOs of Flipkart, Naukri, Swiggy, Snapdeal, Big Basket, and more.

When we started the program, we wanted to keep it as a free event to allow as many people as possible to come. We promoted the event on many different channels and usually had an average of 175 free registrations.

Given the types of speakers we were getting, we knew the content would be exceptional, but we also knew that not all the people who registered would come. The best we did was get 45% of those who registered to attend, and once it was as low as 31%.

We really wanted these events to be a big success, which meant increasing the quality of the turnout. So, as an experiment, we introduced a little bit of friction to the process. Instead of registering for free, we charged Rs. 200 at the time of registering. We knew this would bring down the signups, but we thought it would lead to a better conversion of the people who actually came and wanted to engage. It was a calculated risk.

But we were floored when we saw the results.

Instead of the registrations dropping, we saw a slight increase from our average number of registrations! It was shocking to us that we would get even more people while asking them to pay.

But the real surprise came the night of the first paid event. To our delight, 69% of people who registered came to the event, making it the best attended one we’ve done yet, both in terms of number of people attending, and in the attendee to registration percentage.

We expected lower registrations, a higher conversion, and roughly the same number of people to come.

We got more registrations, a dramatic increase in conversions, and more people to come.

Also read: 7 tips for even the most timid entrepreneurs to succeed at networking events

When we looked back at the data, we wondered if many of these people were the same ones who came to earlier events, but found that only 30-40% of the people who came had ever attended a CTOTalk event before.

As we look back on why this happened, two major ideas emerged.

1. By charging a fee, we found people who were interested in serious events. When an event is marketed as free, some people perceive it as just a gimmick to fill a room and not something where actual great content will be discussed. What we thought was an element of friction turned out to be a signal to validate quality. So, there were many people who registered and came precisely because it was paid.
2. The price indicated a deal. Getting to hear the likes of the CTOs of Snapdeal and Swiggy is a great opportunity. In fact, we could easily price the event at Rs. 2,000 or more and most people would find that to be reasonable. Pricing it at Rs. 200 was obviously undervaluing it, which everyone recognized. Therefore, Rs. 200 seemed like a great deal–something people were more anxious to grab. This was a surprise understanding for us.
3. Pre-paid registration gave people an additional reason to come. The night of an event like this, many things happen for those planning to attend. Work will go late, or another event will come up. If you registered for free, you are more likely to skip the event because it didn’t cost you anything in the first place. But since people already paid Rs. 200, they felt some buy-in and it was an additional reason not to miss.

As we plan for more upcoming events, we’ll keep tinkering with this system to find the best way to promote and get people to attend these amazing talks on technology.

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This article was first published on e27 on November 30, 2018.

Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

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Near says its platform has a large data-set of people’s behaviour that is aimed at brands, enterprises, and publishers

Singapore-based AI-powered platform Near has landed a US$100 million in its latest round of Series D funding from private equity firm Greater Pacific Capital (GPC).

This brings the company’s total investment raised to date to US$134 million. Its earlier investors included Sequoia Capital and JP Morgan.

Anil Mathews, Founder & CEO, Near, said: “With the new funds, we will be launching a suite of new data products, powered by our core platform. These funds will help us strengthen our position in existing markets and expand our presence in key strategic markets.”

Near claims its platform has the largest data-set of people’s behaviour in the real-world that is aimed at brands, enterprises, and publishers. Databases of location, transaction, and other unique real-world signals can help with data enrichment and marketing, in a privacy-led environment.

Near’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, Allspark, enables end-to-end marketing automation for clients and partners across over 20 countries.

Ketan Patel, CEO, GPC, commented, “Near provides insights into human behaviour by analysing where people are, and combining that with a multitude of data points to predict and influence behaviour. Given it does this across the globe in a privacy-protected manner, it is well-positioned to create an exciting new space that delivers value to both people, and those that wish to build relationships with them.”

Also Read: [Exclusive] Raising a new funding round, The Shonet aims to push for greater growth

Near is present across Asia-Pacific, the US, and Europe with client portfolios such as News Corp, MetLife, Mastercard, and WeWork.
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Also, wealthtech from Thailand expands to Singapore, and honestbee’s VP of Marketing Christina Lim left the company

Women’s health app Nyra launches Bahasa Malaysia version [Press Release]

Vivant, the digital health technology startup, announces the launch of ‘Nyra’ in Bahasa Malaysia to help women of all ages track their feminine health, fertility, and fitness. Vivant claimed that Nyra is designed as a one-stop solution for women of all ages juggling multiple health and wellness goals to accurately track their period, fertility, ovulation, as well as physical activity, symptoms, and diet.

From information entered into the app, Nyra provides personalised health and fertility insights, giving women full control over the entire feminine health journey – from preconception to pregnancy and post-pregnancy. It also has an in-app chat feature that allows women to connect directly with a doctor for private one-to-one conversations on health matters including fertility, contraception, sexual health, and everything in between.

Adrit Raha, Chief Executive Officer, Vivant said, “Women’s health can be a sensitive subject in Malaysia and Nyra aims to empower women to break through existing barriers and take full control of every aspect of their feminine health and wellbeing, informed by accurate and personalised health insights.”

Nyra is the first product launched by Vivant under its Nyra women’s health brand, which expects to see an expanded range of products in the region across the women’s health spectrum including pregnancy, post-pregnancy care and re-entering the workplace.

Thai wealthtech Jitta forays into Singapore and India [Nikkei Asian Review]

Thai wealth technology startup Jitta has announced its plan to expand its services to Singapore and India following the US$6.5 million raised from Beacon Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of Kasikornbank in the first half of 2019.

Jitta was founded in 2014 offering a free asset analysis platform that analyses public information, such as earnings, and ranks stocks on their valuation from stock markets in the U.S., Thailand, Japan, and other parts of Asia.

Also Read: Singapore’s data protection framework gets a boost with new appointment, initiative

Jitta is launching a fund that uses its analysis service to help investors manage their investments. Customers will be charged a 0.5 per cent management fee, and Jitta will take 10% of their yearly profits.

Oyo sets foothold in co-working space acquiring Innov8 [Techcrunch]

India’s budget hotel startup Oyo announced that it has acquired co-working space Innov8 for US$30 million, as reported by Techcrunch. The co-living spaces segment is its new business to target, the report said.

The Gurgaon-headquartered firm on Tuesday announced Oyo Workspaces, which is already operational across 10 cities in India with more than 20 centers. It currently has the capacity to serve more than 15,000 people, with more than 6,000 employees from firms such as Swiggy, Paytm, Pepsi, Nykaa, OLX, and Lenskart have already signed up for the service.

Innov8 is one of the three in-house brands that are part of Oyo Workspaces. The other two brands — Workflo and Powerstation — are aimed at people who are looking for the economical offering. A user could access one of these co-working spaces for as low as Rs 6,999 (US$102) a month.

honestbee’s VP of Marketing left the company [Vulcan Post]

After a whirlwind of negative press surrounding its “temporary pause” in operations and partnerships due to an alleged cash crash issue and multiple layoffs, it is now reported that Christina Lim, the company’s Vice President of Marketing has exited the company.

Lim’s move followed suit the resignations of co-founder Isaac Tay and Joel Sng, and managing director Chris Urban.

Also Read: Digitised cross-border trade platform dltledgers raises Pre-Series A funding

Lim was previously responsible for the marketing team to drive brand awareness and loyalty across all its business verticals and has been with the firm for a year.

Lim has revealed to the press that she will be focused on consulting work for companies.

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The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) will help create more job opportunities for professionals who specialise in the field of data protection

The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of Singapore has announced the launch of its new Data Protection Officer  Competency Framework and Training Roadmap, which is designed to help Data Protection Officers’ (DPO) perform their jobs more effectively.

DPO’s are key to the country’s data protection framework as they support the responsible use of data and help to drive data innovation.

The commission also appointed Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) as Singapore’s Accountability Agent (AA) for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) and Privacy Recognition for Processors (PRP) Systems certifications.

What this combination of acronyms translates to essentially is that IMDA will help facilitate cross-border data flow between countries under APEC.

PDPC, supported by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), and NTUC LearningHub, will be launching a 12-month pilot programme to train and upskill DPOs.

Also Read: How an energytech firm is improving energy efficiency in Singapore

These data protection-related courses will be available from the fourth quarter of 2019, and expected to benefit at least 500 DPOs in the first year.

Gilbert Tan, CEO of NTUC’s e2i said, “Data is an increasingly vital resource needed for timely business decisions. e2i, together with NTUC, will help to operationalise the new Framework by reaching out to working professionals, whose job function includes data protection, and equipping them with relevant skill sets to manage, protect and govern data.”

Also Read: Singapore’s AI-based data startup Near raises US$100M from Greater Pacific Capital

Singapore is the third economy after the US and Japan to operationalise the system, and certifications are now open for applications by all companies.

To encourage more organisations to apply for CPBR and PRP certifications, IMDA will waive the APEC CBPR and PRP Systems application fees for SMEs until 30 June 2020. Enterprise Singapore will also support Singapore-based organisations in adopting the certifications by defraying assessment and consultancy costs.

The APEC CBPR and PRP certifications will complement the IMDA’s Data Protection Trustmark certification. Organisations interested in applying for both certifications can do so via an integrated application process.

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The platform Jupiter Chain enables data analytics use with maintained privacy

Singapore-based blockchain startup JEDTrade today announced the launch of Jupiter Chain, a consent-able data exchange platform that enables the use of data analytics without compromising on privacy.

According to a press note, Jupiter Chain allows blockchain technology to be put in the healthcare services ecosystem, where data privacy and security is crucial. It does so by encrypting users’ data and requiring consent before other parties can access the necessary information to conduct big data analytics projects.

JEDTrade’s vision is to have customised healthcare plans from the aggregated medical data, while the data remains secure and private to them. Healthcare business owners will also no longer have to be custodians to user data, avoiding hiccups in securing sensitive data.

The whole objective is to eliminate the risks of data sharing and increases the benefits to consumers and researchers.

“With Jupiter Chain, JEDTrade hopes to fundamentally change the way we handle data. From day-to-day interactions to large-scale processes, enterprise blockchain technology will change the way we live, with new industries hungry for solutions,” said Dr. Ernie Teo, CTO of JEDTrade.

Also Read: Japan’s startup ecosystem has yet to fully mature, says Cool Japan Fund’s Shinnosuke Watanabe

Last month, JEDTrade also announced Jupiter Chain’s partnership with Genecare, a genetics testing company based in Southeast Asia. Genecare allows clients to understand their health risks based on whole-genome sequencing. With this partnership, service providers can only access assessment results and will not see specific genetic data, ensuring the privacy of users while allowing them access to tailored healthcare and services.

JED is a technology company that builds business solutions powered by blockchain technology focussing on three domains: data, supply chain and financial services. Jupiter Chain is aligned with global data laws such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and related data governance.

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How Taiwan is advancing towards becoming Southeast Asia’s leading AI talent hub

In the past two years, Taiwan has rapidly been catching up to the global AI wave and is quickly becoming the region’s defacto AI talent hub.

In order to inject greater momentum into Taiwan’s industries, the government has rolled out the AI Taiwan Action Plan in 2018, a comprehensive industrial plan to accelerate innovation and development.

The four-year action plan will be jointly implemented by the ministries of economic affairs, education, labor, science and technology with a total budget of over US$1 billion poured into the project.

During the same time the Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan was also launched in order to incorporate AI into areas like transportation, healthcare, telecommunications, logistics, and other smart city initiatives.

Over the past two years, technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and IBM have announced the establishment of their largest Asian R&D centers to be based in Taiwan.

For example, Google, following the acquisition of HTC’s handset division in January 2018, received a total of 2,000 engineers, designers, and professionals, along with the launch of “Intelligent Taiwan” just three months later.

The first phase of this initiative was announced to recruit over 300 AI engineers and to train 5,000 AI talents in Taiwan. The second and third phases were to empower more locals to participate in the digital economy by offering free training courses thus, aiming to cultivate a future-ready workforce. Microsoft and IBM have also since announced the recruitment of  AI engineers from Taiwan.

Also Read: Is Taiwan ready to become a global innovation hub?

Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan has two advantages: AI talents and industrial environment.

In terms of talent, Taiwan produces more than 10,000 graduates of computer-science degrees and 25,000 electrical engineers every year. A relatively sizeable talent pool that, if properly upskilled, can provide incredible value to the AI community.

According to OECD statistics, Taiwanese students have topped the global rankings in fourth place for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

In addition, over the past 30 years, Taiwan has accumulated an unparalleled foundation in hardware manufacturing, leaving ample opportunities for companies to capitalize on the growing integration of hardware and software, especially when it comes to 5G, IoT, big data, and industry 4.0.

New opportunities abound as digital marketing and e-commerce mature

According to AppWorks’ newly released 2019 Taiwan AI Ecosystem Map, Taiwan has been shaping up well with 28 startups & 12 habitat providers.

Taiwan’s earliest investment in the AI field can be traced back to Tagtoo, which was established in 2010 and specializes in marketing tech. In addition to capturing the Taiwan market, Tagtoo has also actively expanded into a Greater Southeast Asian regionalcompany.

In 2018, it won the Best Brand Award in Indonesia by CMO Asia. Tagtoo currently aggregates all their data and has a full-time AI team dedicated to train models to more effectively optimize marketing campaign decisions for their clients.

Also Read: AI is set to revolutionise content marketing

Behind the rapid rise of Tagtoo, Taiwan’s digital marketing and e-commerce development has moved into the AI era, and has spawned a number of new innovations in the field of digital marketing and advertising.

For example, Appier, which provides AI-driven data analytics and marketing solutions, recently closed their Series C round, having  received more than US$82 million in total funding.

Other well-known marketing-related startups in Taiwan include Rosetta.ai, which provides e-commerce personalization modules, and Akohub, which develops retargeting chatbots.

AI technology startups converge with Taiwan to create synergy

Notably, we have also witnessed the increasing integration of hardware and software, specifically as it relates to marrying Taiwan’s traditional manufacturing prowess with its growing AI capabilities.

Established in 2014, Umbo CV (Umbo Computer Vision) a model of this innovation and has successfully entered the European and American markets with loyal enterprise clients in over 30 countries.

Umbo CV specializes in intelligent security monitoring and develops image recognition technology with self-learning and analytic capabilities.

The software platform can be used to learn and identify objects, cars, animals, and plants, as well as monitor for intruders and special events like fires.

By combining AI technology with their own proprietary cameras, Umbo CV helps automate what has traditionally been a very labor-intensive industry riddled with false alarms, saving invaluable time and resources for surveillance and monitoring companies.

Other startups that utilize the integration of software and hardware, development of AI applications, big data from cameras, and WiFi measurement include SkyREC, Cubo, Lucid and NUWA Robotics.

With more and more AI innovations, Taiwan is also booming in terms of startup accelerators, education, and research.

The Taiwan AI Academy and Taiwan AI Labs are Taiwan’s representative institutions in the field of AI for education and research respectively.

Looking into the future for AI innovation, we believe that there are three opportunities related to startups.

The first is the automation of routine and repetitive work in labor-intensive industries such as law, accounting, and healthcare.

The second is the use of AI to facilitate tasks that would otherwise be impossible or highly inefficient for humans to do such as processing large amounts of data for personalized recommendations en masse.

The third is the development of enabling tools to help users capitalize on the growing ubiquity of AI without any prior technical foundation.

Also Read: Asian insurtech on the rise: An overview of the main players

Disclosure: AppWorks is a fully independent venture capital fund/startup accelerator and is only affiliated with the listed startups, which have previously gone through  equity-free accelerator, and Umbo CV, which we have invested in.

The map will be updated every half year to adequately capture the sheer pace at which the industry is evolving. We made our best effort to include everyone but if you feel you have been missed out, let us know.

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

Image Credit: Louis Cheng

 

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The Malaysia-based courier marketplace will use the funding to focus on customer acquisition and recruitment

EasyParcel, a courier marketplace startup from Malaysia, announced that it has secured RM43.5 million (US$10.6 million) in Series B from Gobi Ventures and AirAsia’s rebranded logistics arm Teleport.

According to a report by Digital News Asia,  Gobi led the round but Teleport put in more investment.

The Series B round was also joined by current investors Axiata Digital Innovation Fund and several angel investors.

The company’s Series B round reportedly had been going on for almost a year before closing. “It was important to work out the best deal possible for all parties and to get the right partner fit,” Leong said.

The company has said that it plans to use the funding to expand into existing markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, and focus on customer acquisition, as well as strengthen its talent pool by bringing in a new data team leader to scale up the team.

Clarence Leong, CEO of EasyParcel said: “The focus now is speed in execution, as we target to double the revenue in the next 12 months.”

As for scaling up, Leong expressed that EasyParcel is looking into tapping at traditional businesses, especially smaller SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), beyond its current e-commerce clients.

Also Read: South Korea’s Carelabs acquires online beauty and wellness concierge startup Eunogo

EasyParcel is a marketplace that connects courier demand with supply, seeking to enhance the operations of its digitally unsavvy courier partners.

EasyParcel was already working with AirAsia Teleport, previously RedCargo Logistics. The plan is for EasyParcel to potentially help fill spare capacity on Teleport planes.
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Image Credit: EasyParcel

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