Thailand’s ORZON Ventures invests in Pomelo, Carsome, Freshket, GoWabi, Protomate

Thai VC firm ORZON Ventures has invested in five local startups operating in mobility and lifestyle.

The startups are Pomelo, Carsome, Freshket, GoWabi, and Protomate.

ORZON Ventures is a US$50-million VC fund launched in October 2021 by SGHoldCo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thai oil company OR and early-stage investor 500 TukTuks (now 500 Global). The fund invests in early-stage startups (Series A to B) in both OR-related businesses areas and in new businesses in the mobility and lifestyle sectors.

By investing in startups through ORZON Ventures, OR seeks to thrive beyond the oil business, realising startups’ strengths in the use of technology and their adaptability to the rapidly changing economic landscape. It is an opportunity for OR to develop synergistic projects with startups in Thailand and the region.

Also Read: Freshket nets US$3M to bring together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce in Thailand

The startups have access to 500 Global and 500 TukTuks’ global VC network and business consultation from ORZON Ventures’s general partners, namely Krating Poonpol, Natavudh (Moo) Pungcharoenpong, and Pahrada (Mameaw) Sapprasert.

Below are the brief profiles of the five startups:

Pomelo: An online fashion brand and platform in Southeast Asia, Pomelo’s Tap Try Buy concept allows customers to order online and try in-store or at home before making the purchase. Pomelo also serves as an omnichannel enabler for brands. It now offers more than 500 brands locally and globally on its platform.

Carsome: It is an online platform for buying and selling used cars in the region. Carsome provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.

Also Read: Carsome completes acquisition of ASX-listed content automotive platform iCar Asia

Freshket: It is an online food supply chain platform for HoReCa businesses and consumers, offering a variety of more than 7,000 items of fresh and dried food from quality suppliers. Freshket now has over 10,000 HoReCa customers.

GoWabi: It is an online platform for discovering and booking health and wellness services online, matching OR’s direction of creating a lifestyle ecosystem for customers. Users can easily search for services, compare prices, find discounts, read reviews and ratings by other customers, and book and pay online. GoWabi also offers a SaaS tool for their thousands of providers to help manage and optimise their business.

Protomate: It is a hardware AI startup producing consumer electronics products and services in emerging technology areas. Its innovative solutions match OR’s mission to uplift the mobility experience for customers.

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