Singapore-based startup Jenfi has raised US$6.3 million in a Series A round with Golden Equator Ventures and Korea Investment Partners (via the GEC-KIP Fund) participating in the fundraising.
Growth financing for early-stage non-profitable startups can be tricky as they don’t fit into the traditional customer mold for financial institutions. However, founders may be unwilling to give up more equity in exchange for funding and that’s where Singapore-based startup Jenfi comes in. Jenfi seeks to provide revenue-based financing of up to US$500,000 with flexible repayment plans and a fully online application process.
Ohmyhome raised US$5 million in a Series A round and its valuation has hit US$45 million, double from the previous Series A raise led by Golden Equator Ventures.
WhiteCoat, Singapore’s leading telemedicine platform for on-demand remote healthcare services, has raised S$10.8 million in a Series A round led by the GEC- KIP Technology and Innovation Fund, co-managed by Korea Investment Partners (KIP) and Singapore-headquartered Golden Equator Ventures (GEV). The funding marks the largest Series A raised by a Singapore-based telemedicine company to date, with participation from a decorated list of investors including Deep Tech investor, SGInnovate, and Asia Resource Corporation.
The oversubscribed round follows swiftly from WhiteCoat’s stellar performance amidst unprecedented telehealth adoption and utilisation worldwide. In 2020 alone, the company experienced an 8-time increase in revenue and a 7-fold surge in consultation figures, powered by its cutting-edge end-to-end telemedicine capabilities.
WhiteCoat plans to use the proceeds to cement its dominance in the local telemedicine space and accelerate its regional footprint, in particular, its initial entry into key Southeast Asian markets. The funding will also allow WhiteCoat to enhance its proprietary full-stack telemedicine platform by doubling down on product development and engineering, and further expand its suite of remote healthcare services, which has rapidly diversified in the past year to encompass in-home diagnostic testing, specialist care and mental wellness services in addition to virtual primary care.
Presently, WhiteCoat’s mobile application connects consumers to an extensive and curated network of medical practitioners and allied healthcare professionals for a best-in-class telehealth experience. Bolstered by its ongoing partnership with AIA, the largest publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, WhiteCoat is well-positioned to leverage its insurer integration expertise in new markets across the wider Southeast Asian markets.
Bryan Koh, CEO and Founder of WhiteCoat, said, “WhiteCoat has been on a sharp growth trajectory even before COVID-19, propelled by an influx of first-time patients and strong repeat usage from our existing base. We see this investment as an endorsement of our vision in making WhiteCoat the first touchpoint for all healthcare needs. With this investment, we will further develop and scale our technology and services and create transformative and smart healthcare solutions which benefit patients, healthcare professionals and insurers across the region.”
Synclare Kim, Managing Director and Head of KIP Singapore on behalf of the GEC-KIP Fund, added: “WhiteCoat’s demonstrated service excellence and track record of providing high quality, timely and affordable care have set them apart from their counterparts, and we are confident that the team is in the best position to improve accessibility to, and set even higher standards for healthcare in, the broader regional communities. We are thrilled to welcome WhiteCoat into our fold of high growth companies and to provide support in this critical next stage of its development, especially in a time when remote care has never been more important.”
“SGInnovate’s investment interest lies in supporting high potential companies with novel solutions to solve tough challenges. WhiteCoat is one great example that offers a comprehensive and seamless suite of telemedicine services such as primary care, chronic disease management and specialist care, through their one-stop digital platform that enables registration, consultation to prescription and delivery of care to users. We believe that their regional expansion will be a success through partnering with key players like AIA, further driven by current demand for telehealth, and look forward to being part of their growth journey,” said Dr Lim Jui, CEO, SGInnovate.
SINGAPORE-BASED Ohmyhome has launched in the Philippines, its third location after Singapore and Malaysia, it said on Tuesday.
The proptech startup will serve the Philippine market’s housing transactions with its full suite of end-to-end property services, from professional real estate agents and mortgage, to renovation and more, it said in a press statement.
Pooja has mentored and invested in successful startups including Canopy and Amazin’ Graze
Helped set up two Asian multi-family offices: Crossbridge Capital and Fusang
Singapore, 9 October 2019 – Golden Equator Capital (GEC), a Singapore-based fund management arm, today announces the appointment of Pooja Gurbani as a Partner for its Venture Investments team. Her responsibilities include mentoring portfolio companies and maintaining strategic partnerships across the innovation and investment communities.
Pooja joined Golden Equator Capital with more than 20 years of experience managing different types of investments in global financial hubs including London, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Prior to joining Golden Equator, she was most recently managing her family office during which she oversaw investments in various asset classes and developed a keen interest to help and invest in new innovative businesses.
She has mentored and invested in successful startups including Canopy, an online wealth management platform and Amazin’ Graze, a healthy snacks and breakfast delivery company. Currently, Pooja is also an advisor to Green Monday Ventures – a private equity fund investing in ventures that resolve existing and potential global issues such as climate change, food insecurity, health, and animal welfare.
Pooja Gurbani, Partner, Venture Investments at Golden Equator Capital, said, “With Southeast Asia being the focus of growth for VCs and startup, the next few years will see an exciting amount of growth and opportunities for startups and investors in this region. I am thrilled to be a part of this dynamic team and community, and I hope to bring my network and leverage my experience gleaned from working across functions and financial hubs globally in helping GEC’s portfolio companies and in identifying opportunities.”
While managing her family office, Pooja has advised several family offices in her network on their investments and in securing private investment deals for them. She also helped establish two Asian multi-family offices: Crossbridge Capital and Fusang.
Daren Tan, Managing Partner, Venture Investments at Golden Equator Capital, said, “Pooja will be a valuable addition to the Venture team with her global experience and perspectives, having strong track record working with and advising startups, and her keen personal interest in health- and impact-related investments would provide fresh perspectives for us in identifying opportunities.”
Golden Equator Capital currently runs S$120m GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund, with co-manager Korea Investment Partners. In September, the GEC-KIP fund announced a US$2.3m investment in leading Vietnamese PropTech Rever and a US$2.5m investment into Southeast Asia’s #1 digital talent agency Gushcloud International. To date, the fund’s portfolio companies include Indonesia’s fashion e-commerce platform Sorabel and Singapore’s online-to-offline PropTech platform Ohmyhome.
Singapore-Korea Joint Fund GEC-KIP Invested US$2.3M in Vietnam’s Proptech Rever
The investment will help Rever deepen its presence in Vietnam and expand into cities outside of HCMC
Rever reported over US$1.5m in 2018 revenues and expects to triple this figure in 2019
The investment marks the fund’s second investment into PropTech in the region
Singapore, 5 September 2019 – GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund (GEC-KIP Fund), a S$120m venture fund co-managed by Golden Equator Capital (Singapore) and Korea Investment Partners (Korea) today announces its US$2.3 million investment into Vietnam’s leading PropTech platform, Rever.
Founded by Manh Phan in 2016, former Marketing Director of Zalo, Vietnam’s #1 messaging and social platform, Rever offers an efficient and transparent real estate service in a very fragmented and opaque market, with nearly 7,000 agencies and more than 100,000 hobbyist agents. Leveraging on technology to make this sector more efficient, Rever works with real estate agents exclusively to provide more tailored and transparent services to help clients find their dream home, both for living and for investment, from the discovery process all the way to the purchase.
The investment will help Rever deepen its presence in Vietnam where there are over 200,000 real estate transactions each year and growing; it plans to open 30 additional large experience centres within the next 18 months to better serve its clients, and start expanding beyond Ho Chi Minh City in key markets such as Hanoi and other coastal cities. It will also further enable Rever’s continuous efforts in building on its technology, valuation engine, recruitment drive, and operations to improve customer experience and operational excellence. Rever reported over US$1.5m in revenues in 2018 and expects to triple that revenue in 2019, having done almost 1,000 transactions year-to-date.
Rever team with Founder and CEO Manh Phan (middle, back row)
Minh Phan, Co-Founder and CFO of Rever, said, ”Real estate markets globally are seeing major shifts from the traditional way of transacting to more tech-enabled ways. Technology has enabled agents to serve more clients and more efficiently – helping buyers by making the property selection and purchase process safer and helping sellers by making the valuation and asset transfer process more expedient. With our investors’ support and network, we are well-poised for a more accelerated growth this year and become the market leader in Vietnam.”
As a key differentiator, Rever already operates in both the primary and secondary real estate markets, allowing them to have a healthy revenue model and a 360-degrees view of the domestic real estate market. The company works with established real estate developers in Vietnam such as Keppel Land and Khang Dien, and has helped support the sales of recently launched high-profile projects such as Empire City and Diamond Island. To overcome a general lack of trust in Vietnam’s operating environment, Rever leads a sales team with strong client-servicing experience having worked in leading real estate agencies, while also running numerous full-fledged experience centres for clients to meet with the agents that will handle all requests or enquiries on Rever’s services and properties with their technological tools.
Some of Rever’s Experience Centres
Daren Tan, Managing Partner for Venture Investments at Golden Equator Capital, said, “We are bullish on tech-based next-generation service platforms that help bring efficiencies to traditional service industries, yet having offline touchpoints for better customer service and gaining trust. Existing case studies such as the decacorn Lianjia in China show that this hybrid offline-and-online PropTech model can succeed in a very fragmented market like Vietnam. Alongside existing investors, we will provide Rever with the support to become the leading digital hybrid agency in Vietnam that offers an efficient and transparent experience to home buyers and sellers.”
Synclare Kim, Executive Director at Korea Investment Partners, will be joining Rever’s Board of Directors to provide hands-on support to the company, representing the GEC-KIP Fund. He said, “The diverse background of the founding team at Rever and their extensive experience at some of the country’s largest tech players such as VNG and Grab, gives us confidence that the management is well-positioned to continue ramping up growth rapidly. We are looking forward to an exciting journey ahead with the team!”
This investment into Rever marks the GEC-KIP Fund’s second investment into a PropTech company in the region. In September 2018, GEC-KIP led a S$4m investment in Singapore’s PropTech marketplace Ohmyhome. Founded by sisters Rhonda and Race Wong, Ohmyhome is an online-to-offline (O2O) property transaction platform that provides an end-to-end real estate ecosystem including agent services, financing, conveyancing, relocation, and renovation. Following the investment, the company has successfully expanded to Malaysia and more than quintupled its monthly revenue.
Rever’s investors for the previous fundraising rounds included Le Hong Minh, Founder and Chairman of VNG, Vietnam’s only unicorn and its #1 internet company, and Phan Minh Tam, Founder and Chairman of 24h Group, the country’s #1 news portal, as well as VinaCapital Ventures, Vietnam’s leading investment management firm.
For more information, please contact:
Szecindyo Chewandi (Chin)
Golden Equator | Group Communication Lead
(and on behalf of Korea Investment Partners and Rever)
Incorporated in 2016, Rever aims to create a platform where all real estate-related transactions become instantaneous and safe. We believe that both accommodation and real estate investments can be improved through applications of technology and excellent service. Leveraging on our technology, we empower real estate agents to provide more tailored and transparent services in helping clients find their desired properties, from the discovery process all the way to the purchase.
Golden Equator Capital (GEC) is a Singapore-based fund management firm holding a Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence with funds across real estate, high-growth technology, and prime currencies, available to accredited and institutional investors.
Our Technology and Innovation Funds invest in high-growth technology companies. Our Private Capital Funds provide investors access to investment opportunities in companies and projects in Southeast Asia’s growing economies. Our Prime Currency Income Fund helps manage our clients’ liquidity and produce absolute returns.
GEC is a subsidiary of the Golden Equator Group. Through its five businesses, the conglomerate embraces its core pillars of Capital, Technology, and Community, to build financially rewarding businesses and create social impact in the world.
Korea Investment Partners has developed expertise and presence across a range of industries through venture capital investments. With 30 years of private equity investment experience, we have demonstrated abilities to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and successfully capitalised on market dislocations through our unique investment approaches.
