JAKARTA, presidentpost.id – Malaysian Venture Capital company Vynn Capital has been intensively targeting the startups in Southeast Asia and Indonesia becomes one of the target countries that will be funded by the company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.
The company was founded by Victor Chua, who previously was the Vice President of Gobi Ventures, and Darren Chua who was previously working for IE Singapore.
To the presidentpost.id, Victor said he wants to help digitalize the traditional businesses. “We are looking for a company with a great potential, not necessarily a unicorn like Go-Jek but it has to be a good one and that we think it will have a big impact to the economy; in creating jobs and opportunities to other businesses.”
Victor added that what differentiates Vynn Capital from others is the company’s focus on the traditional businesses to brings them to the new economy or digital era. “We are also looking for industries that are ready to adopt our technology, and at the same time they can improve their skills and insights with our investors who certainly have experiences in the field.”
Synergy
The word synergy becomes one of Vynn Capital’s advantages as it seeks to create synergy among the startups as well as between the startups and the investors.
“So, there will be an interest between the two parties, where the startups can learn from investors and the investors can also learn from the startups on how to run a business in a new way,” Victor said.
Vynn Capital has been targeting 5 industries namely travel, property, FMCG, female economics (cosmetics, skincare and women life cycle related products) and logistics or enabler (fintech).
“We want startups from different industries to collaborate mutually and be supportive to each other. We also want investors to do the same (specialists of various industries but willing to exchange experiences),” said Victor.
Currently Vynn Capital has three advisors, pioneer in the advertising industry in Malaysia Tan Sri Vincent Lee, Chairman of Jababeka Group in Indonesia S.D. Darmono and CEO of Pacific Travel Association (PATA) in Thailand Dr. Mario Hardy. (TPP)
Incepted in 2016, Dropee’s one-stop marketplace aimed to disrupt the B2B supply chain by connecting product suppliers directly with SME owners, offering both sides a streamlined fulfilment process that can handle bulk purchases using a host of tech-enabled solutions.
These solutions include automated ordering, digitalised documentation, easy comparison tools, and easy product tracking across supply chains, among other features.
Led by co-founders Lennise Ng and Aizat Rahim, Dropee currently serves the metropolitan regions of Malaysia, with their target market focused around Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Johor.
Speaking on their plans going forward, Aizat explained that the plan for their newly acquired capital was to lead into two distinct expansion strategies—new products and new markets.
“We aim to build a new product line to offer better solutions for our existing customers, and to expand our operations geographically,” he said. “As of current, most of our customers are based in the Klang Valley—hence a portion of this fund will be used on Dropee’s expansion to the northern and southern regions of Malaysia such as Penang and Johor, before we advance further into the rest of the Southeast Asian market.”
Expansion plans for the rest of Southeast Asia include Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam in the near future, and all this is indicative of a brand ready to build upon its already impressive base of over 800 brands, over 6,000 SKUs, and over 1,000 businesses. Among Dropee’s clientele include names like Unilever, Network Foods, and Lee’s Frozen Foods.
When quizzed on how they plan to successfully implement their plans for expansion, Aizat explained that aside from just expanding their presence physically, fixing mental conceptions among their customers was also key.
“We’re on a mission to help companies transform their businesses digitally to simplify processes and accelerate growth,” he said. “However, implementation of transformative technology requires education.”
“From our experience, businesses in Malaysia still require more understanding on how technology like ours can help take them to the next level,” he said. “That’s why we actively participate in numerous events (B2B Online Asia, eTail Asia, RetailEX ASEAN, etc) involving he supply chain, retail and FMCG industry, allowing us to preach about the benefits of an integrated supply chain using tech.”