Sequoia joins $20m Series B for Malaysia's Fave
Sequoia Capital India has joined a $20 million Series B funding round for Fave, a Malaysia-based online-to-offline (O2O) platform operator that covers a range of consumer categories across Southeast Asia.
Other investors in the round included SIG Asia Investments and Venturra Capital. Previous investors include 500 Startups, InnoVen Capital, India Asia Venture Group, Global Founders Capital, Intres Capital, Segnel Ventures, and SXE Ventures.
The company raised a $12 million round in 2016 and about $3 million the prior year. These investments were followed closely by a string of O2O bolt-ons, including Groupon Indonesia, Groupon Malaysia, and Groupon Singapore.
Founded as a gym membership app called KFit in 2015, Fave helps offline retailers improve their online sales through O2O services including mobile payments and loyalty rewards programs, while also connecting customers with brick-and-mortar businesses. Focus areas include food and beverage, beauty and wellness, leisure and travel.
According to a statement, Fave will drive more than $100 million revenue for businesses in 2018. The company claims to have achieved an annual growth rates of up to 300%. It plans to use the latest funding to increase its client base to 100,000 offline businesses by 2019. The service is said to have been used by 3 million customers across 15 cities in Southeast Asia to date.
"Everyone talks about the cashless society, but making the actual shift requires an exceptional user experience, with clear benefits for the users as well as for businesses," Pieter Kemps, principal at Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore, said. "If you help businesses drive revenue and reduce operational burden, you can truly drive adoption and create choice for consumers."
Sequoia India closed its sixth fund at $695 million earlier this month with a mandate that includes Southeast Asia. The firm said the fund's targeted geographies were set to have a combined GDP of more than $14 trillion and more than 1.5 billion mobile internet users in 2030. It has made about 200 investments in India and Southeast Asia to date with a significant focus on consumer and technology-related sectors.
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