TNB Aura leads $32m round for Singapore electronics brand

TNB Aura was set up in 2018, when Singapore’s TNB Ventures and Australia’s Aura Group jointly raised about $27 million for a debut fund. It typically makes deployments of USD 1m to USD 5m in Series A or B rounds for technology companies.

This is Prism’s first institutional funding round. The company has launched three mall-based retail outlets in Singapore since its inception in 2017 and plans to add six more by the first quarter of 2023. Malaysia and the Philippines will be the first international expansions.

Core products are gaming monitors and TVs, although recent moves into smart home appliances and smart air conditioners are said to be enjoying traction. Indeed, TNB Aura’s investment is largely based on the smart home foray.

The VC firm said that Prism’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) model – including an emphasis on customer service, pricing, quality, and product features – put it in a position to leverage expected growth in the segment.

“We believe the regional D2C market has reached an inflection point, with digital penetration, payments and fulfilment infrastructure increasingly able to support high-quality D2C offerings across both online and offline formats,” Charles Wong, a founding partner of TNB Aura, said in a statement.

“Prism is primed to become the regional champion of a market traditionally dominated by East Asian giants such as Xiaomi, Samsung and LG.”

Prism attributes its recent momentum to putting faith in a post-pandemic rebound for offline retail when its competitors were scrambling to go online. This included a partnership in 2021 with furniture retailer Hipvan, whereby Prism sells its goods at Hipvan’s location in the Suntec City mall.

Experiential stores and the advantages of in-person sales staff underpin the strategy. The company considers offline shopping a more holistic customer experience, which includes technical support. For example, its recently launched air conditioner business features a unit installation service that has serviced more than 100 homes across Singapore.

“In this post-pandemic landscape, we are seeing consumers return to malls and retail spaces in full force. People crave the personal touch that has been missing. The electronics industry has long relied on brick-and-mortar stores to sell the immersive experience of their products,” Jonathan Tan, managing director of Prism added.

“We hope to shake up this age-old formula by showing customers that a premium home set-up need not come with a hefty price tag as we retain our direct-to-consumer approach across all our channels.”

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Early-stage
• Singapore
• manufacturing