Storehub raises USD 8.9M to grow F&B and retail platform across Southeast Asia

StoreHub has raised a US$8.9 million (RM36.2 million) funding round led by returning investors Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with participation from Accord Ventures and a private family office with dual headquarters in Southeast Asia and Europe.

The round brings StoreHub’s total funding to US$15 million (RM61 million). The new funding round will bolster its aggressive growth and expansion in line with Southeast Asia’s booming economy.

StoreHub has seen rapid growth since its Series A raise in 2018, from 3,000 to over 13,000 stores in Southeast Asia, with transaction growth from US$269 million to US$1.2 billion to date. Headquartered in Singapore, the Malaysian founded company has a regional team of 325 people located across multiple offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila and Shanghai.

“Investors like our strong unit economics and recurring revenue model which are key to our sustainable growth and ability to reach profitability very quickly when we want to,” said CEO and Cofounder, Fong Wai Hong.

Cofounded in 2013 by Fong and Li Congyu, StoreHub has developed from a simple tablet-based POS provider to an omnichannel operating system for SMEs with offerings that include an e-commerce platform, a QR code-powered loyalty cashback program and, for F&B outlets, a table ordering system.

Cofounder Li, who leads the 50+ Product & Engineering team from Shanghai China, says her ultimate goal is to bring technology closer to everyone and help entrepreneurs embrace and leverage technology to grow their business to reach Southeast Asia’s population of 360million connected users.

With the retail scene in Southeast Asia experiencing a big shift driven primarily by technology, Fong notes that “what we’re seeing is that businesses which are thriving are those embracing technology to automate the management and growth of their stores, while those that don’t are struggling to cope with the drastic changes in consumer behaviour.”

Fong is referring to how smartphone empowered consumers are becoming more informed and have higher expectations of delivery times and service standards.

Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India believes Fong and his team are poised to be a major player in the retail revolution.

“Capitalising on its strength in tech and understanding what businesses need, StoreHub leads the industry in rolling out new innovations to enable businesses to increase their revenue and productivity. Their rapidly growing user base and high retention rate are strong indicators of the value in StoreHub’s platform. We’re excited to work with StoreHub to help businesses level up and stay relevant in this digital economy age.”

Source: Digital News Asia
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