StoreHub, a Kuala Lumpur-headquartered tech platform that provides a powerful Point of Sale (POS) system for businesses, has secured US$8.9 million in its latest Series A+ financing round, which was led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, a leading venture capital firm with a focus on Southeast Asia’s high growth startups. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a returning investor for the tech startup’s Series A+ funding round, which also saw the participation of an unnamed private family office, as well as Tokyo-based venture capital firm Accord Ventures.
According to StoreHub, the freshly acquired funding will enable the Malaysian startup to pursue a growth-based strategy as it asserts its presence across the countries of Southeast Asia by leveraging on the many opportunities afforded by the region’s flourishing economy, thus expanding its influence and reach. Additionally, the newly raised funds will be used by the technology platform startup to further cement its position in its core markets of the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. It is also seeking to bolster its human resources as well by nearly doubling the size of its current team through the hiring of new talent to fill over forty of the company’s job vacancies.
As of now, the technology platform startup has managed to raise approximately US$15 million in funds. Previously, the startup managed to secure around US$1 million for its seed funding round in 2016, and its Series A funding round, which was also led by Vertex Ventures, successfully bagged the startup roughly US$5 million in 2018. Ever since its Series A funding round just two years prior, StoreHub has experienced accelerated growth that saw the company vastly increase its number of stores by nearly 430%, from three thousand to thirteen thousand, spread throughout the region. In line with the tech platform startup’s explosive growth in its number of users, StoreHub also experienced a massive increase in its transaction growth during the same period, from around USD$270 million to approximately US$1.2 billion, a near 4.4-fold increase.
According to Wai Hong Fong, co-founder and self-styled chieftain at StoreHub, as newly emerging tech and innovative solutions continue to disrupt industries and ecosystems across Southeast Asia, thus giving rise to new approaches and ways of doing things, all of this will be conducive to the continued growth of e-commerce in the region. He cites the rapid rise of mobile and smartphone usage among the region’s relatively young population, which has contributed to regional consumers becoming increasingly more attuned to high quality services and more demanding of delivery times as they become more aware and knowledgeable. Essentially, what this means is that companies and businesses have to adapt to new technology and adopt new approaches such as automation in order to thrive in an increasingly shifting environment. Companies and businesses that don’t adapt will find themselves lagging even further behind as consumer tastes and behavior continue to evolve in order to keep up with the latest technological developments and trends.
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India’s managing partner, Chua Joo Hock, meanwhile said that the venture capital firm is quite eager to partner with StoreHub in helping the region’s businesses and companies to grow and remain competitive in a digital age. StoreHub is a prime candidate for this enterprising venture as evidenced by its swiftly expanding number of users as well as its solid retention rate.
StoreHub, the enterprising startup that provides a powerful POS system on its tech platform, will seek to further accelerate its growth across the region and strengthen its foothold in its existing markets with the latest funding acquired from its Series A+ funding round. As businesses across the region strive to adapt to a new industrial age that is increasingly defined by emerging technologies and digital solutions, StoreHub will be there to help ensure that they are able to stay relevant and remain productive throughout.
