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Tag: 500 Startups

  • Easyship raises more funding

    Easyship raises more funding

    Hong Kong logistics startup Easyship has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-series A funding from 500 Durians, a fund managed by Silicon Valley’s venture capital major 500 Startups.

    Easyship is an online platform providing crossborder logistics services for eCommerce companies, claiming to have access to more than 80 shipping companies and offering visibility on delivery time, cost breakdown, reliability and tracking.

    To date, it has raised aggregate funding estimated at US$2.5 million. The latest round will help it expand into Southeast Asia via Singapore, following the validation of its business model and building of traction in the Hong Kong market.

    Its expansion to Singapore provides strategic access to Southeast Asia and leverages off the city-state’s logistics infrastructure and networks – just as US eCommerce giant Amazon is establishing a presence there.

    The venture originates from problems with international shipping encountered by co-founders Tommaso Tamburnotti and Augustin Ceyrac when they were trying to build the crossborder business of Rocket Internet’s Lazada, as reported. At the time, Lazada was trying to attract more vendors to its platform in China and Hong Kong selling into Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

    However, Lazada’s rapid sales growth was inhibited by a “very unstructured and fragmented” logistics industry. Easyship streamlines this process, providing an end-to-end process for packaging, labelling and tracking goods with couriers. It charges no fees for these services, with sellers paying the couriers. Revenue is generated from courier commissions.

    Easyship claims its saves its 1000-plus clients in Hong Kong up to $20,000 a month on shipping fees.

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  • Awards to recognise eCommerce merchants

    As Southeast Asia eCommerce merchants set benchmarks in a booming industry, their efforts are about to be celebrated with the launch of annual awards.

    Based in Kuala Lumpur, online shopping aggregator iPrice Group has launched the iPrice eCommerce Merchant Awards (iEMA) 2016 in partnership with eTail Asia, a service for eCommerce professionals, and Trusted Company, a review platform for eCommerce businesses in emerging markets.

    The first awards ceremony will be held in conjunction with the annual eTail Asia conference at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, on March 8 next. The inaugural iEMA 2016 will feature country and regional winners in two categories – Most Popular eCommerce Merchant of the Year and Highest-Quality eCommerce Merchant of the Year. Merchants do not have to submit entries as all qualifying merchants are automatically enlisted.

    “Based on studies by Google and Temasek, the Southeast Asian eCommerce market is expected to see exponential growth from US$6 billion to about US$90 billion in 2025,” says iPrice Group CEO David Chmelar.

    “With new players in the eCommerce industry coming up every left, right and centre, it is imperative we highlight excellence in the sector in hopes to further inspire and encourage both existing and upcoming merchants to excel further in Southeast Asia.”

    Consumer choice

    Finalists and winners for the awards will be chosen by consumers via the iEMA 2016 microsite. People can vote only once, with January 31 the deadline.

    Meanwhile, in an effort to also recognise special initiatives by eCommerce merchants that might have escaped attention, a third category has been set up to highlight efforts by businesses that have undertaken projects to support a social or non-profit organisation. This will be judged by a panel of experts from the eCommerce sector with only one overall regional winner being chosen. The judging panel comprises Chmelar, Asia Venture Group CEO/founder Tim Marbach, Worldwide Business Research GM Danny Levy, Trusted Company co-founder/MD Frederick Krass, Google Vietnam head of marketing Anh Nguyen and 500 Startups managing partner Khailee Ng.

    Submissions for this award are being accepted from for both consumers and eCommerce merchants through the iEMA 2016 website.

    Voting is being accepted at the iEMA 2016 microsites for Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

    iPrice Group is a Southeast Asian metasearch engine that enables shoppers to find products, compare prices and save. It seamlessly connects them to hundreds of eCommerce merchants in the region.

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  • Carousell raises $35m for expansion

    Carousell raises $35m for expansion

    Singapore-based online marketplace Carousell has raised US$35 million in a funding round led by Rakuten Ventures.

    Other investors in the Series B funding round included Golden Gate Ventures, Sequoia India and 500 Startups.

    Founded in 2012, the Carousell app lets people buy and sell a variety of items including beauty products, fashion, lifestyle gadgets, furniture and home appliances. Sellers upload photos of items they wish to sell while buyers use the chat function to buy.

    Carousell will use the new funds to speed its growth into new markets, strengthen its product and engineering capabilities and build a “world-class” team, says co-founder/CEO Quek Siu Rui. The company has just hired former AirBNB Southeast Asia MD Chai Jia Jih to oversee its international expansion.

    So far Carousell has raised about $41.8 million, and is available in 13 major Asian cities including Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei and, most recently, Hong Kong.

    Its marketplace had more than 35 million listings globally as of the second quarter this year, with Quek claiming it has gathers 70 listings a minute.

    To stand out from its competition, Carousell puts emphasis on speed. Quek says it takes as little as 30 seconds to post a listing on the marketplace, and users can communicate within the app, eliminating the need for messaging apps or emails.