NEWS & RESOURCES

Get to know Etaily's Alex Friedhoff in this interview by LUXUO.  Friedhoff shares his career background prior to founding ETaily, how ETaily is able to meet demand so quickly with every brand rushing to go online and the challenges in building such a business in Southeast Asia, among others.

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Read the LUXUO interview here.

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Digital banking group TymeBank has expanded rapidly since its launch in 2019 – with its customer base on par with the likes of Nedbank.

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The bank launched in February 2019 and hit the milestone of 1 million customers in November that same year.  In 2020, its customer base quadrupled to 4 million, boosted by targeting relatively untapped markets, including a partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).  By 2021, it was comfortably adding around 130,000 new customers per month, and by the end of 2022, it had hit the 6 million customer mark.

Reporting its full-year results for the year ended June 2023, African Rainbow Capital Investments – the 50% shareholder of TymeBank – said the digital banking giant has now surpassed 7.4 million customers in South Africa.  This has been driven by another partnership with The Fochini Group (TFG), where 600 kiosks were installed across 22 brands within the TFG stable – almost doubling TymeBank’s distribution across South Africa, the group said.

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Read the full article here.

Retail Capital, a division of TymeBank, is a one stop, one click funding solution for SMEs who need an instant cash injection. The platform has cut out all the complicated administration that often accompanies procuring funding and simplified the process – making it easier for businesses to get the financing they need within 24 hours.  Before, and during Covid the company was also monumental in ensuring business continuity for businesses across the country.

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In an in-person interview with Luca Merlo, Retail Capital’s Product Manager delves deeper into how the lending service differs from banking services, and how the company has leveraged technology to simplify the money lending process making it easier for businesses to access the funding they need.

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Read the full article here.

Dubai, UAE: Masafi, the UAE-headquartered consumer goods conglomerate, has selected Darwinbox, a global HR tech unicorn, to automate its HR function and enhance the employee experience using a new-age, AI-powered Human Capital Management (HCM) platform. The new implementation incorporates some of Darwinbox’s leading products and features like hiring, onboarding, payroll and performance management for Masafi’s 1,000+ cross-border workforce spread across UAE and Oman.

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Read the full article here.

e27's Sainul Abudheen K chats with Growsari co-founder Shiv Choudhury on how the startup is helping stores digitally procure goods & services, improve efficiencies, maintain strong relationships between stores & suppliers, and its aspirations as it moves toward unicorn status.  

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Read the interview here.

Malaysia-based shopping aggregator iPrice Group has launched iPrice.au, its price comparison platform in Australia.  This marks its first “significant expansion” beyond Southeast Asia, the company said in a statement. Outside Malaysia and Australia, iPrice also operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

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“As inflationary pressure make shoppers more cautious about spending, we are pleased to provide the convenience of Southeast Asia’s largest price comparison platform to Australia,” said Karl Loo, senior vice president in business development and internationalization at iPrice.

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Read the full article here.

TymeBank, South Africa’s fastest-growing digital bank, pioneers the integration of PayShap.  As the first South African bank to provide this real-time interbank digital payments service, TymeBank offers its 7.6 million customers free access to payments up to the R3,000 limit using cellphone numbers (ShapID). This emphasizes the bank’s dedication to delivering affordable banking solutions to a diverse range of South Africans.

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PayShap aims to decrease reliance on cash and instill trust in digital payment methods, offering enhanced safety, swiftness, and cost-efficiency.

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Cheslyn Jacobs, TymeBank’s Chief Commercial Officer, notes, “We have been actively providing customers with various low-cost instant payment options as we strive to digitize cash transactions. By making PayShap to mobile numbers free, we empower both individual and business customers to reap the benefits of real-time digital payments across banks without the concern of transaction fees.”

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Read the full article here.

Business-to-business tech company Growsari commemorates its 7th year of empowering micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) nationwide.

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Since its inception in 2016, Growsari has been revolutionizing the retail ecosystem of mom-and-pop stores, more known as sari-sari stores, by providing comprehensive tech solutions to transform them into efficient and competitive retail establishments. Growsari’s vision started with a noble mission — to uplift the lives of local store owners and bridge the gap between traditional retail and modern technology.

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Through their innovative platform, Growsari has been instrumental in enabling over 250,000 sari-saristores across the country, spanning 24 key cities and 400 municipalities. Recently, Growsari has expanded its reach to previously untapped regions, including the provinces of Isabela in North Luzon and Bais, Dumaguete in Visayas, making their impactful presence felt in even more communities.

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Read the full article here.

etaily has announced its exceptional achievements and unveiled the latest trends observed during its highly successful 6.6 Mega Campaign. Despite the conclusion of the campaign, the insights gained and outstanding performance in specific product categories continue to provide valuable information for etaily’s brand partners.

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The 6.6 Mega Campaign marked a significant milestone for etaily, showcasing a remarkable 20% growth compared to the previous 3.3 campaign held in March. This substantial increase can be attributed to the resurgence of offices, schools, and retail operations, along with the reopening of several countries for tourism, resulting in heightened mobility. The groceries, fashion, and motors categories exhibited exceptional performance, while the surge in revenge travel contributed to the soaring demand for travel-related categories, further boosting the campaign’s success. Several etaily-managed brands, including Anta, Century Pacific, Crocs, Enfagrow, Goodest, Lactum, Landmark, Levi’s, Motoworld, and Sustagen, emerged as top performers in their respective categories.

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Read the full article here.

ZUZU Hospitality, a revenue platform provider for independent hotels, today announced an oversubscribed US$9 million (SG$12 million) Series B funding round led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, with participation from Atinum Partners and existing investors Wooshin Venture Investment, Visor Ventures and JG Digital Equity Ventures.

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The startup plans to double its hotel partner count across the region with a keen focus on India and reach an impressive milestone of 5,000 partners by the end of 2024. Furthermore, it also plans to make strategic investments in AI tools to improve pricing, automate guest management, and improve partner experience.

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These advancements aim to enhance ZUZU Hospitality’s offerings and revolutionise how independent hotels operate in today’s competitive market.

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Read the full article here.

Digital banking group Tyme has secured $77.8 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by Norrsken22 and Blue Earth Capital.

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Founded in 2012, Tyme operates a multi-country digital bank focused on emerging markets in Asia and Africa, with locations in South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. It launched its flagship offering TymeBank, a fully digital bank, in South Africa in February 2019.

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With the new funding, Tyme intends to accelerate its operations in South Africa and the Philippines (where it operates GoTyme Bank, a new digital bank), and plot its expansion across Southeast Asia. The company intends to close its Series C funding later in the year.

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Read full article here.

Sarisuki is an online shopping platform that encourages a new generation of Community Leaders to explore the potential of selling affordable farm-fresh goods and other essential items. 

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Now in its second year, Sarisuki aims to provide consistent farm fresh products at affordable prices, supply a convenient channel for e-commerce, and create sustainable financial opportunities for communities and farmers. Additionally, Sarisuki lets consumers have a rewarding experience of grocery shopping. By providing affordable prices of produce and essential goods, Sarisuki creates a ‘wais’ way for consumers to spend their hard earned money, thus the term, ‘Winner Pag Madiskarte.’   

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Last May 5, 2023, Sarisuki showed its gratitude to its Ka-Sangga farmers, Ka-Saripreneurs, and SariSuki’s partners during its 2nd Year Anniversary with its Sarusuki Super Fiesta 2023.

Read full article here.

Singapore-based Wavemaker Impact, a fund of Wavemaker Partners designed to help build climate technology ventures, is nearing the final close of its first vehicle, the firm's founding partner, Marie Cheong, told DealStreetAsia. "The [debut] fund is slated to close by mid-2023. It is already oversubscribed and is likely to exceed its target," Cheong said. 

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Wavemaker Impact, which calls itself a "VC-backed climate tech venture builder," has introduced four new startups through its venture-building model. This includes WasteX, which provides waste management solutions for agriculture producers across Southeast Asia.

Other investments include Helios Solar, which sells solar energy solutions to households in Southeast Asia by packaging solar panels within home mortgages.

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Another investee of Wavemaker Impact is Singapore-based Agros Global, which helps farmers to decarbonize through solutions like soil restoration.

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Read the full article here.

LEADING B2B eCommerce enabler, etaily, achieved positive unit economics or profit contribution 3 (PC3) in its second full year of operations. The performance across the year exceeded each quarter's target in 2022.

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The company realized year-on-year growth of 3x in gross merchandise value (GMV) and 6x in revenue. The tremendous scale has been powered by the growth of its legacy partner brands and the onboarding of several enterprise brands, most notably Reckitt Benckiser, Whole Earth Brands, Levi's and Skechers.

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"Our PC3 positive status is a major accomplishment and a testament to the strength of our business model," said Alexander Friedhoff, CEO of etaily.

The financial feat signals the scalability and profitability of etaily's operating platform, where the company envisions to anchor its next stage of growth. 

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Read full article here.

Indonesian company Bukalapak has acquired a majority stake in iPrice Group, the Kuala Lumpur-based price comparison platform.  The company believes iPrice has been building a niche marketplace - aligned with its new focus of building & acquiring niche marketplaces & accelerating their growth. 

“With Bukalapak’s extensive expertise in ecommerce and iPrice’s loyal userbase and proprietary technology, we are confident that we can unlock the platform’s full potential,” said Willix Halim, the CEO of Bukalapak. 

Read full article here.

Philippine's leading B2B ordering and store solution platform, Growsari Enterprise has recently unveiled its new business units SariMart and SariPay. 

With this, there have been new leadership appointments to run these business units.  Maimai Madrid-Punzalan, currently Growsari Enterprise Chief Growth & Marketing Officer, will take the position of General Manager for SariMart, which is the B2B Ecommerce business arm of platform. SariMart will have the mandate to be the country's largest B2B Ecommerce wholesaler for neighborhood MSMEs (e.g. sari-sari stores, Carinderias and bakeshops) and will operate independently from Growsari’s platform, including partnering with other offline and online players.

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Sandeep Bhalla will elevate his role as the General Manager of SariPay. SariPay is the independently run financial services company which aims to support the MSME network with working capital loans, cash management, remittances and similar products.  They have been already working with multiple partners (retailers, wholesalers, distributors) outside the Growsari network to offer credit to their customers and support their cash management.

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Read full article here.

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E-commerce logistics startup Locad raised $11 million in Series A funding and is said to be on track toward building Asia-Pacific’s “largest fulfillment network.”

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In a briefing on Monday, January 16, Locad said the round was led by Reefknot Investments, a fund anchored by Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and Swiss logistics company Kuehne & Nagel.

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The Series A funding round also saw participation from returning investors Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia’s Surge, Febe Ventures, Antler, Foxmont, and Kaya Founders, as well as new investors Access Ventures and JG Digital Equity Ventures.

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Read full article here.

HRtech unicorn Darwinbox has reportedly secured $5 Mn in an extended Series D funding round from State Bank of India (SBI).

Darwinbox will use the fresh funds for marketing, capital expenditure and other business operations. Including the current fundraising, the startup has raised a total of $115 Mn to date.

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Read full article here.

Tech unicorn Darwinbox announces the appointment of Panuwat Benrohman as Managing Director for Thailand.  

As HR digital transformation takes center stage in Thailand, Darwinbox is ramping up its local team along with product capabilities to offer advanced end-to-end human resource management solutions to organisations in the country. 

“Darwinbox has already partnered with a few marquee brands in the region to enable their HR digital transformation journey and is looking to expand further under Ben’s leadership,” the startup said in statement.

Read full article here.

Singapore-based venture builder Wavemaker Impact has secured US$13 million at the first close of its planned US$25 million debut fund from investors such as JG Digital Equity Ventures, Kajima Ventures and Pavilion Capital.

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The company was launched by venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners in 2021 and is focused on co-founding climate technology startups across Southeast Asia and scaling them. Wavemaker Impact aims to contribute to a 10 percent reduction in global carbon emissions by 2035 through building 10,000 companies that target issues from transforming industrial processes to evolving land use.

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Read full article here.

To strengthen its commitment in leading the logistics and e-commerce space, Locad is introducing a new industry category which it calls the “logistics engine.”  This move of Locad aligns with the growing awareness and need of many online merchants for a partner that could help them grow through a logistics solution that goes beyond order fulfillment.

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“Locad is the logistics engine enabling e-commerce brands to scale without worrying about order fulfillment because our network of warehouses and shipping partners allow them to store products closer to customers and deliver orders faster at the fraction of the cost,” Constantin Robertz, Locad CEO and co-founder said.

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Read full article here.

Darwinbox secured a score of 4.7 out of 5, the highest rating on Gartner Peer Insights, ahead of established vendors such as Oracle, SAP, and Workday. The report notes that 96% of customers recommend the Darwinbox experience to their peers, the highest among all global HR technology solutions.    

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Gartner Peer Insights is a customer review and rating platform for enterprise software and services decision makers. Reviews go through a strict validation and moderation process to ensure authenticity.

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Read full article here.

etaily has landed in Forbes Asia’s “100 to Watch” list in 2022 out of the 650 small companies and startups evaluated by the magazine.

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Etaily aims to digitalize retail in Southeast Asia by helping stores embrace e-commerce. Its smart services for shops include tech support, operations, branding and data management. 

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To check out Forbes' complete list, read here.

TymeBank has reached an agreement with Retail Capital and its shareholders to acquire 100% of the fintech SME funder’s shares, subject to regulatory approval.

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TymeBank CEO Coen Jonker said the acquisition will see Retail Capital become a division of TymeBank and the foundation of the bank’s expanded business banking offering.

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Jonker believes the intended acquisition is an important step in addressing the gap in the digital-only bank’s proposition to customers. This gap, he noted, is providing businesses with working capital solutions and the ability to buy the stock and resources they need to keep growing and developing their business. “This is where Retail Capital fills that gap for us uniquely.”

Read full article here.

etaily entered into a partnership with the TikTok Shop to capitalize and build its brand partners’ presence through this channel, delivering end-to-end e-commerce solutions including community management, video production, live streaming, collaborations with content creators, store management, and warehousing and fulfillment.

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According to etaily co-founder and CEO Alexander Friedhoff: “We progressively find ways to advance our brands’ awareness and turn discovery into purchases – now with TikTok’s new feature. There is a lot of untapped potential in this new era of shopping online. We are constantly promoting increased online retail visibility and growth for our brand partners, guiding them through all available e-commerce platforms.”

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Read full article here.

JG Digital Equity Ventures (JGDEV), the corporate venture capital arm of JG Summit Holdings, is supporting the development of the country’s e-commerce sector by participating in the latest funding round for SariSuki, an online community selling platform co-founded and led by Brian Cu, the former president of Grab Philippines.

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SariSuki aims to uplift communities throughout the Philippines by providing an online platform where citizens can create earning opportunities for themselves. “SariSuki offers Filipinos value grocery products at extremely affordable prices that meet their daily needs. We are also empowering community leaders to be strong microentrepreneurs that will help propel the country’s economic growth from the grassroots level,” said Cu in a statement.

While the Philippines’ e-commerce market has the potential to reach $15 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025, the adoption of e-commerce in the grocery and retail industry remains low, with under 3% of businesses in the sector being online.

Supportive of SariSuki’s advocacy to break down the barriers preventing greater e-commerce adoption in the country, JGDEV alongside other local and foreign investors including Openspace Ventures, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Global Founders Capital (GFC), Saison Capital, and Foxmont Capital Partners helped raise US$7.1 million in the latest funding round for the startup, bringing its total fund raised to US$10.7 million as of March 2022.

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With the infusion of new funds, SariSuki aims to expand its product assortment and operations to reach more Filipino consumers. According to JGDEV President and CEO Jojo Malolos, “We believe in SariSuki’s potential to drive e-commerce adoption in the country, particularly in areas underserved by traditional players. SariSuki’s business model empowers everyday Filipinos to become Community Leaders and helps uplift local farmers, all while delivering high quality, affordable groceries to consumers.

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The idea behind SariSuki came a few months after the pandemic broke out in 2020, when Cu’s wife Kate began selling fresh fruit and vegetables to fellow residents in their community through a social media app. By consolidating her customers’ orders, she was able to order produce from suppliers in bulk and, in turn, passed on the discounts to her buyers.

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SariSuki’s founders later discovered that this type of business model was taking off all over the country, where community sellers provided for the needs of their neighbors. The team, which includes CEO Cu, COO Philippe Lorenzo, Chief Commercial Officer Manuel Mejia, and Head of Strategy and Fundraising Angelo Lee, also learned that community group buying has long been a common practice in China and Indonesia.

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Since its launch in May 2021, SariSuki has grown 36 times in terms of gross merchandise value in the past nine months. Starting with the selling of fruits and vegetables sourced directly from local farmers, SariSuki has since partnered with companies such as Universal Robina Corporation, P&G, NutriAsia, Unilever, Mondelez, Nestle, and Bounty Farms to better serve its customers. The business has now served more than 60,000 consumers through its growing number of community leaders called “KaSari.” The company’s operations currently extend across the Greater Metro Manila Area, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and some parts of Rizal and Pampanga.

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“SariSuki’s increasing sector dominance has resulted from addressing key pain points and barriers to e-commerce adoption with a model that builds confidence amongst, and value for, consumers. We recognized that the trust that those communities are putting in their Community Leader, who consistently delivers high-quality local produce, will help to rapidly accelerate vital e-commerce adoption” said Hian Goh, co-founder of Openspace.

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“We are honored to back a stellar team bringing convenience and a world-class customer experience to groceries shopping in the Philippines. In our view, the high density, growing disposable income, maturing digital connectivity and sheer population size in key urban areas in the Philippines, finally set the stage for the next cohort of large consumer-facing tech businesses in the country,” said Tito Costa, partner at Global Founders Capital.

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Foxmont Capital Partners Director of Portfolio Management Nico Sibal added, “We strongly believe in the digitalization of the Philippines, and especially how SariSuki provides a wide-ranging platform that allows many communities new and meaningful access to that future. They have found a uniquely Filipino way to empower the local community at scale, both as buyers and sellers. SariSuki has a dynamic, experienced set of founders and a leading organization that can deliver on the promise of the next generation of e-commerce in the country.”

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For more information on SariSuki, visit https://sarisuki.com

Companies under the Gokongwei Group, namely JG Summit Holdings’ business units Robinsons Bank and Robinsons Land Corporation, and Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. ,have invested and collaborated with Singapore-based digital banking group Tyme to create GoTyme Bank, which offers financial solutions and products.

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GoTyme also aims to provide rewards for purchases, priority access to sales, and promos. This will also include investment products.  GoTyme Bank will launch in Q3 this year.

Read full article here.

Filipino B2B startup Growsari said it will use the $77.5 million from its recent Series C round of fund raising to accelerate its plans to transform the country’s small physical retail stores, such as sari-sari stores, carinderias, eateries, pharmacies, and other roadside shops into comprehensive service hubs of their communities.

Growsari CEO and co-founder Reymund ‘ER’ Rollan said they are set to triple the number of store partners that will benefit from using their platform within two years, with an estimate of 300,000 store partners by 2023.

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Growsari’s expansion in Visayas and Mindanao include key cities such as Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, and General Santos. Growsari is now present in 20 key cities and 400 municipalities nationwide.

Read full article here.

TymeBank's largest shareholder African Rainbow Capital (ARC) says the bank will launch GOtyme in the Philippines in October 2022.   It also said that TymeBank continues to add 130 000 new customers a month, and at that rate it's closer to reaching 5 million clients.

Read full article here.

Business-to-business startup Growsari said Thursday it plans to triple the number of store partners after raising P4 billion from a Series C round of funding, or capital raising activity.

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Growsari co-founder and chief executive Reymund Rollan said the expansion is part of the plans to accelerate the transformation of small physical retail stores, such as sari-sari stores, carinderias, eateries, pharmacies and other roadside shops into comprehensive service hubs.

“We are proud to share that we are on track in fulfilling our mission of creating a positive socio-economic impact to the lives of more MSME owners and the communities they serve nationwide,” he said. 

The platform aims to grow the number of store partners to 300,000 by 2023. Growsari’s expansion in Visayas and Mindanao include key cities such as Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, and General Santos. Growsari’s presence is now in 20 key cities and 400 municipalities nationwide.

Read full article here.

SOUTHEAST Asian e-commerce enabler etaily recently has been recognized as a "Great Place to Work" for its commitment on building a safe and positive employee-first culture.

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"On Certification Nation Day, we are proud to celebrate our amazing employees, our main driver of success and the most important asset of our company. It is truly an honor to be recognized as a Great Place to Work-certified company because it shows how much we value our people," said etaily Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alexander Friedhoff.

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He said etaily has been at the forefront of transforming e-commerce in Southeast Asia, and they could not have done this without their amazing team that truly embodies their values of "One Team, Customer Obsession, Dive Deep, Ownership, and Invent and Simplify."  Read full article here.

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Tyme Group has appointed co-founder Coen Jonker as new CEO of digital-only bank TymeBank, while current CEO Tauriq Keraan will be group executive: growth projects for Tyme Group.   Keraan will be responsible for leading the group’s establishment in new territories, as part of Tyme Group’s geographic diversification strategy.

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The new announcement comes amid a series of leadership changes, as the digital contender embarks on the next chapter of its growth strategy.   Other appointments are: David Pfaff, Tyme Group’s current CFO, will take over from Jonker as Tyme Group CEO, and Cheslyn Jacobs, who is currently responsible for TymeBank’s sales and service function, will be appointed chief commercial officer, accountable for revenue generation.

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The new appointments come after TymeBank’s rapid growth in SA, with the bank racking up almost five million customers, and having rolled out a slew of services since inception. Read full article here.

iPrice Group, Southeast Asia's leading price comparison platform helping online shoppers save money, announced that it has raised $5 million of additional funding.  The capital was raised from Japan-based firms Itochu Corporation and the KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (operated by Global Brain Corporation).

The additional funding will bolster iPrice's role in finding shoppers the best deals as Southeast Asia's e-commerce market becomes increasingly difficult to navigate.  

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To read the full article, click here.

SariSuki, the Philippines’ rapidly growing start up in the e-commerce grocery sector, is strengthening its leading position in the social commerce segment by breaking down the barriers to e-commerce adoption.

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SariSuki is backed by significant fundraising that counts Openspace, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Global Founders Capital (GFC), Saison Capital, JG Digital Equity Ventures, and Foxmont Capital Partners among those who participated. The latest US$7.1 million round took total funding for the company to US$10.7 million in 2021. With the new funds, SariSuki aims to deepen the breadth and depth of its operations to serve more Filipino consumers.

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SariSuki was founded by an impressive team emerging from within Southeast Asia’s scale-up tech giants led by Brian Cu, co-founder of Zalora Philippines and Grab Philippines, where he was country head for 7 years.

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Introduced in May 2021, SariSuki grew 36 times in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV) in the past 9 months. The business has now served more than 60,000 consumers through its growing number of community leaders called KaSari. SariSuki operations extend across Greater Metro Manila Area, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and some parts of both Rizal and Pampanga.

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SariSuki adopts a Community Group Buy model. Members of communities who set up their business as a Community Leader or KaSari, are able to earn a healthy profit from directly selling produce and goods whilst performing the last mile fulfillment. This model has enabled SariSuki to offer supermarket quality products at wet market prices. SariSuki acts as a consolidator of grocery items for their KaSari who in turn own virtual “sari-sari stores” that sell the goods to consumers.

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While the Philippines’ e-commerce potential market size is estimated to reach $15 billion by 2025 (Statista), the adoption of e-commerce into grocery and retail industry remains at less than 3-percent of businesses being online. With the pandemic further exposing these issues, SariSuki started in 2021 with a mission to empower the community by buying fresh produce in bulk from local farmers and offering them to the local community at a discounted price.

Those interested to earn and be a KaSari Community Leader may sign up by downloading the SariSuki application from the App Store and Google Play.

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“We are a set of founders that grew up in the Philippines and have an understanding of our market. This combined with our background in scaling up large tech companies in the region

made us realize we can do more by increasing efficiencies in our supply chain infrastructure. SariSuki offers Filipinos value grocery products at extremely affordable prices that meet their daily needs. We are also empowering community leaders to be strong microentrepreneurs that will help propel the country’s economic growth from the grassroots level ” said Cu.

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“SariSuki’s increasing sector dominance has resulted from addressing key pain points and barriers to e-commerce adoption with a model that builds confidence amongst, and value for, consumers. We recognised that the trust that those communities are putting in their Community Leader, who consistently delivers high-quality local produce, will help to rapidly accelerate vital e-commerce adoption” said Hian Goh, co-founder of Openspace.

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“We were always deeply impressed with the team at SariSuki, and believe the depth of talent they now have at all levels of the business will be key as they continue to grow, expand and consolidate their early leadership position,” said Gervin Yang, Executive Director at Openspace.

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“We are honored to back a stellar team bringing convenience and a world-class customer experience to groceries shopping in the Philippines. In our view, the high density, growing disposable income, maturing digital connectivity and sheer population size in key urban areas in the Philippines, finally set the stage for the next cohort of large consumer-facing tech businesses in the country.” concluded Tito Costa, Partner at Global Founders Capital.

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Foxmont Capital Partners Director of Portfolio Management Nico Sibal added, “We strongly believe in the digitalization of the Philippines, and especially how Sarisuki provides a wide-ranging platform that allows many communities new and meaningful access to that future. They have found a uniquely Filipino way to empower the local community at scale, both as buyers and sellers. Sarisuki has a dynamic, experienced set of founders and a leading organization that can deliver on the promise of the next generation of e-commerce in the country.”