Month: July 2021

Source: e27

Malaysian e-commerce logistics company Epost has raised US$1.4 million from Warisan Quantum Management, a Malaysia-based private equity management firm.

The company plans to utilise the newly raised capital to enhance its product and expand the platform across Southeast Asia.

Launched in 2019, Epost is an e-commerce logistics company that provides cross-border delivery and e-commerce fulfillment services to brands and retailers. It also provides cloud-based integrated order, inventory, and warehouse management systems to ease logistics for companies.

Currently, its services are available across Malaysia, China, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei, with 13 e-commerce fulfillment warehouses located at key locations throughout Southeast Asia.

“In Southeast Asia, the e-commerce logistics industry has plenty of room for growth, especially in services that enable connectivity across national borders. We hope to transform the industry and create more value for all players throughout the e-commerce value chain with Epost’s solutions and technology,” said Tobin Ng, CEO of Epost.

“This round of funding marks our very first investment into a Sabah-based startup. The investment made in Epost represents our aspiration and commitment to assist high-caliber local entrepreneurs in the Sabah region and we will continue to identify more quality startups to work with. If Epost is progressing well in their business growth, we do not exclude the possibility of providing follow-up funding up to RM4,000,000 (US$945,000),” said Haji Mohd Shukor Bin Abdul Mumin, Chairman at Warisan Quantum Management.

While there has been a surge in the e-commerce industry over the past few years in Southeast Asia, there has also been neck-to-neck competition in the sector. Among the leaders in the logistics and supply chain sector are Kargo, Moovaz, Waresix, and Ninja Van.

Source

Source: Yahoo Finance

Velotrade, a Hong Kong-headquartered growing leader in trade finance, has secured funding and partnership with Vynn Capital, a Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm with notable investments such as Carsome from Malaysia and Travelio from Indonesia. Velotrade operates a digital platform that matches corporates in need of working capital with institutional investors willing to advance funds. With the new financing and partnership with Vynn Capital, Velotrade plans to scale its technological infrastructure and expand into new geographies in Southeast Asia.

Velotrade, launched in 2017, has since granted short-term financing of outstanding invoices to thousands of corporates, including Fortune 500 companies and SMEs – demonstrating the urgent need for supplier financing. Furthermore, driven by the objective to provide long-term sustainable results, the company follows prudent risk management and complies with additional risk management rules as the only trade finance platform licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, which positions Velotrade as a trusted source of new asset class of trade receivable for institutional investors. With the growing ecosystem of clients, Velotrade is continuously adding products to its offering and is very active in e-commerce financing, purchase order financing, export loans, etc.

Velotrade is also recognized by major global banks like MUFG Bank, with the recent appointment of the fintech company as MUFG Bank’s internal invoice processing manager. Besides, Velotrade has been awarded the prestigious accolade of Best SME Invoice Solution award at TechChallenge, a joint initiative of Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) and The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

Through the partnership with Vynn Capital, Velotrade will further scale its operations and expand into Malaysia and other markets of Southeast Asia. In addition to financing, Vynn Capital will actively contribute company-building expertise and provide access to an extensive network of resources in Southeast Asia to Velotrade. On the partnership with Vynn Capital, Vittorio De Angelis, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Velotrade, said, “We are very excited to partner with Vynn Capital. The partnership will help us broaden our geographical reach and further establish our presence in Malaysia and the rest of South-East Asia. When selecting partners, it is of paramount importance to have synergies to exploit, and our two firms have many to share!”

“We believe that the financial sector and capital markets are due for greater enhancement in efficiency. Large financial institutions are looking at how technology and digitization can help grease their wheels and propel themselves forward. Velotrade sits right in the middle of all the action: the pandemic is encouraging demand for their services as there has been a very strong surge in cross-border transactions. We are ready to integrate Velotrade into our portfolio ecosystem, and we have a very optimistic outlook for the company to expand deeper into countries like Malaysia and Indonesia,” Victor Chua, Founding & Managing Partner of Vynn Capital, added. Vynn Capital recently announced that the firm has joined hands with Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz, a Senior Advisor to the leading private equity firm TPG Capital, to support portfolio companies like Velotrade.

About Velotrade

Velotrade is a digital trade finance platform used by businesses of all sizes to finance their cash flow. Corporates can access financing via invoice discounting, e-commerce financing, purchase order financing and other trade finance assets. The funds are injected by investors with excess liquidity who are seeking alternative ways to achieve attractive returns in a favourable risk-return framework.

Using the latest-available technologies to conduct comprehensive credit analysis and incorporating modern compliance procedures, Velotrade’s platform is an efficient and rapid means for companies to obtain financing to meet their cash flow imbalances. Corporates in need of financing and investors keen to access the trade finance asset class can apply for inclusion on the Velotrade platform.

More on Velotrade: https://www.velotrade.com

About Vynn Capital

Vynn Capital is an early stage venture capital firm founded with the objective of bridging the gap between traditional industries and the new economies through the development of technology. Key industries of focus include Travel, Property, Food and FMCG, Female Economics as well as Business Enablers (including logistics and fintech).

The team is made up of professionals with experience across early stage investment to late stage financing, with experience in business operations. The investment philosophy revolves around the creation of synergistic value between partners and companies supported by Vynn. Beyond investing, Vynn Capital assists its investors or Limited Partners in understanding new industries and markets with its localized team and network across the major cities of Southeast Asia. Vynn Capital is currently active in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. For more information, please visit https://vynncapital.com/

Source

Source: The Edge Markets

Carsome Group announced today that it is acquiring 19.9% of Australia-listed iCar Asia Ltd from Catcha Group.

It added that Carsome and Catcha Group have made a joint proposal to the independent directors of iCar Asia to acquire the balance of 80.1% of iCar from its shareholders.

The total transaction is estimated to be worth more than US$200 million, said Carsome in a statement.

Catcha Group will become a shareholder of the Carsome Group in exchange for the sale of its shares in iCar Asia to Carsome, it added.

“Carsome and iCar Asia, combined, offers an integrated automotive ecosystem — for dealers to source, advertise and sell cars; and, for consumers to research, sell and buy cars — in a region that trades over US$55 billion worth of automobiles annually,” Carsome said, noting that it is the market leader in the online used car buying and selling platform across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, while iCar Asia is the leading listings and content automotive platform across those same markets.

Carsome added that the proposed integration between Carsome Group and iCar Asia offers significant strengths such as a target US$1 billion revenue for 2021 and the largest automotive data set that has around 100,000 cars transacted annually with over 10 million monthly unique visitors visiting the platforms.

Carsome said the proposed acquisition of iCar Asia offers an enhanced suite of digital products and services to more dealers and consumers in all key markets.

The expanded suite of solutions will offer an end-to-end, super-app experience that covers the entire car buying and selling value chain, it added.

It also noted that consumers will enjoy a seamless, one-stop solution as Carsome Group expands its offerings to span the whole car ownership journey — from search, transaction, finance and insurance to after-sales services.

Carsome’s co-founder and group CEO Eric Cheng will lead the Carsome Group as CEO, and the group welcomes Catcha’s co-founder and Group CEO Patrick Grove’s support as one of the founders alongside Cheng and Jiun Ee Teoh to drive the future growth of the business.

“We are excited to have Patrick join us as he brings along two decades of tech entrepreneurship and capital market expertise. This transaction is an important part of our growth strategy to build the entire automotive ecosystem in Southeast Asia and part of how we are transforming the industry through trust, transparency and technology,” said Cheng.

“This is the first step toward consolidation to form the largest digital automotive group in terms of revenue, user base, largest live listing, and the best end-to-end fulfilment capability in the region.”

When contacted on this, Grove said: ‘The combined business is on track for US$1 billion in revenue this year, making us one of the largest internet companies in the region, and definitely the largest in Malaysia.”

“Bringing iCar Asia’s extensive traffic and dealer network in the region together with Carsome’s leadership position in automotive e-commerce is extremely powerful. We are excited to join Carsome as shareholders and work with Eric and his team to expand our leadership position and look forward to helping the combined business dominate the US$55 billion digital automotive space in Southeast Asia in the years ahead,” he added.

When asked if there are IPO plans for this new combined entity, Grove decline to comment.

Just last month, Bloomberg quoting people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Carsome is weighing going public in the US in a deal that would make it Malaysia’s first unicorn.

The wires added that Carsome is working with advisers and is seeking a valuation of about US$2 billion in a listing, which could be a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) or a conventional initial public offering.

Meanwhile, earlier this year in February, Catcha Group announced the pricing of its SPAC Catcha Investment Corp initial public offering of 27.50 million units at a price of US$10.00 per unit on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source

Source: Bloomberg

Southeast Asian used car marketplace Carsome Group has become Malaysia’s first technology unicorn as part of a share-swap deal that will see the startup take a stake in iCar Asia Ltd.

Carsome agreed to acquire 19.9% of Australia-listed automotive portal iCar from Catcha Group, the largest shareholder of ICar with a 30% stake. In return, Catcha will become a shareholder of six-year-old Carsome, boosting the startup’s valuation to more than $1 billion. Following the share swap, Carsome will offer to buy the remaining 80.1% in iCar from existing shareholders, a transaction valued at more than $200 million, according to a statement from the company on Tuesday.

Under a conditional, non-binding indicative proposal, Carsome would acquire all of the ordinary shares of iCar that it and its associates do not already own for 55 Australian cents (41 U.S. cents) cash per share. The offer represents a 83.3% premium to iCar’s Friday close of 30 Australian cents. iCar’s stock jumped 40% to 42 Australian cents in Tuesday trading.

“This is the first step toward consolidation to form the largest digital automotive group in Southeast Asia,” Carsome Chief Executive Officer Eric Cheng said in a virtual interview. “We visualize a platform that could deliver end-to-end solutions for anyone — from searching a car to buying and selling, finance, insurance and after-sale services.”

Cheng is responding in part to intensifying competition in Southeast Asia’s online car market, which he estimates to be worth $55 billion. Last month, arch-rival Carro raised $360 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund II, a funding round that pushed its valuation to more than $1 billion. Southeast Asian classifieds startup Carousell said earlier this year it’ll invest aggressively to grow its car-trading business in the region.

The proposed acquisition would bring together iCar’s car listing sites and Carsome’s second-hand transaction platform across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It would also make Carsome one of the most valuable marketplaces for second-hand cars in Southeast Asia.

“Nine million people visit the iCar portal a month to search for a car, and it would be powerful to have many of them trading in and buying cars digitally via the Carsome platform,” said Patrick Grove, CEO of Catcha Group. “The combined company has a long way to go.”

Carsome’s proposed offer is subject to shareholder approval and the process could take two to four months, according to Grove. iCar has appointed Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as its financial adviser and Herbert Smith Freehills LLP as its legal adviser, according to iCar’s stock-exchange filing Tuesday.

Source

Source: Yahoo Finance

We are proud to share that Vynn Capital has joined hands with Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz (pic, top), who is now also a Partner with the Vynn-ing team!

With his experience and knowledge, Tunku Ali will assist Vynn Capital’s investment efforts in the region, helping to identify new investments as well as growing portfolio companies.

“Partnering with Victor Chua, CFA and the team at Vynn Capital seemed a natural fit for me. Victor couples venture capital pedigree and experience, with youth and dynamism, allowing him to seek out new opportunities in this rapidly changing market, a skillset which I feel is complementary to mine.”

Besides being an active early stage tech investor over the last decade, Tunku Ali is also Chairman of two listed companies (Bumi Armada Berhad and Taliworks Corporation Berhad), a board member of companies such as Bangkok Bank Berhad and Sun Life Malaysia and serves as chairperson with several non-profit institutions, including WWF-Malaysia, Teach For Malaysia, and Yayasan Munarah. He is also a Senior Advisor to TPG Capital, one of the world’s largest private equity investment firms.

Source

Source: Tech In Asia

Carsome, a Malaysian car-trading platform, announced that it has acquired an equity stake in PT Universal Collection, an Indonesia-based offline car and motorcycle auction company. However, it did not disclose the size of the deal.

The company aims to double its automotive transaction volumes in Indonesia after this investment, which marks its first capital injection in Southeast Asia this year. Carsome also has plans to make several strategic investments and major merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the near future.

The investment, Carsome claims, will make it the largest omnichannel car ecommerce platform in the region that offers both online and offline transactions.

Universal Collection sells used cars at auction. The company has branches in five cities in Indonesia – Jakarta, South Tangerang, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Malang – and sold close to 30,000 vehicles last year.

With its investment, Carsome can get more diverse inventory for its dealer-partners from Universal Collection. The auction company’s suppliers of used cars and motorcycles, meanwhile, will have access to a wider pool of demand through Carsome.

As of April 2021, Carsome conducts over 9,000 used-car transactions per month, with annualized revenue at around US$800 million. It is on track to achieve US$1 billion in revenue this year.

Delly Nugraha, country head of Carsome Indonesia, has also been appointed as Universal Collection’s president director, said the statement.

Source