Asia Partners leads round for SE Asia e-commerce enabler

SCI, whose previous backers include co-founders of Alibaba Group and Singapore’s Jubilee Capital, described the round as its first large institutional equity investment. The deal values the company at $235 million and sets up a US IPO later this year with a target valuation of $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. A secondary listing in Singapore will be considered.

Founded in 2014, SCI – which stands for Singapore China Indonesia – positions itself as the fastest growing e-commerce enabler in Asia, with revenue having increased 75x during an unspecified three-year period. Revenue more than doubled during 2020 to $100 million. EBITDA has been positive since 2019. The company was net income positive in 2020.

Operations include helping brands expand into Southeast Asia and China, using data analytics to optimize online traffic to gross merchandise value conversion, and support improvements in customer experience, brand awareness, and consumer loyalty. Public engagement tools that aim to create a feedback loop for better serving consumer demands is also part of the offering.

SCI says it is a certified e-commerce services provider for Lazada, Shopee, and Alibaba’s Tmall platform. Its brand partners include Unilever, Abbot, Stanley Black & Decker, Crayola, Nestle, Vinda, and Danone. The company plans to use the fresh capital to develop new software tools for brand partners and its geographic capabilities for cross-border e-commerce operations and fulfillment.

“We are deeply impressed by what Joseph and his team have accomplished in such a short period of time,” Nick Nash, a co-founder of Asia Partners, said in a statement. “As our region’s leading e-commerce enabler, SCI is playing a foundational role in bringing Asia to the world and the world to Asia. Cross-border trade makes the world more prosperous and more cohesive, raising standards of living and quality of life.”

Asia Partners closed its debut Southeast Asia VC fund in March at $384 million. The vehicle targets a perceived Series C and D funding gap by joining rounds of $20-100 million in size, especially for consumer internet models targeting middle-class markets. Its previous investments in e-commerce include Carsome, a Malaysian used car trading platform.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Support services
• Expansion
• Singapore
• Asia Partners
• e-commerce
• Logistics