StoreHub Raises US$13.5mil pre-Series B funding to drive further F&B, retail automation in SEA

• Estimated 2mil businesses in Thailand, M’sia, Philippines to on-ship still
• Platform similar to having 10 extra staff that work day to day with zero errors

Southeast Asian startup StoreHub, a nine year-old platform that enables restaurants and retailers in order to automate and develop their business, provides raised US$13. 5 million (RM60. 7 million) in a pre-Series B fundraising round led by 500 Global with participation from existing traders Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & Indian, OSK and others.

Headquartered within Malaysia and co-founded in 2013 by Malaysian Fong Wai Hong and Chinese language national Congyu Li, StoreHub started as an early pioneer associated with cloud-based SaaS Stage of Sales (POS) systems in the region. Nowadays, the platform powers over 15, 000 paying retail and restaurant outlets in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia, and has extended its offering to incorporate QR-based table purchasing, loyalty, automated consumer engagement, and more.

“With ‘revenge travel’ and ‘revenge dining’ continuing to push consumer behaviour within Malaysia and throughout the region, retail plus F& B business owners are looking for ways to enhance operational efficiency plus maximise their revenue per customer. Our platform automates purchasing, payments, and client engagement. It’s just like having 10 extra workers that work 24/7 to suit your needs with zero mistake. Business owners make more money and obtain more time for their families, or to expand actually more”, said Fong, the CEO.

For five hundred Global, leading StoreHub’s round is one of the to begin many “really large bets” the company is taking in the top-performing companies. “We joined their first round in 2016, with a small US$150, 000 check. Quick forward to today, we have invested more than US$10 million cumulatively on top of that, ” mentioned Khailee Ng, Handling Partner, 500 Worldwide.

“Here in Malaysia, we now have seen businesses transform themselves to adapt to the new normal. Labour shortages and more demanding and digitally-savvy consumers have increasingly afflicted the industry with dining places and Mamak restaurants especially being strike hard in recent times. Using this, it has become a lot more critical for businesses to integrate technology into their operations, ” Fong added.

This rising usage by business and particularly small business is reflected in StoreHub’s development. In the last 12 months, it offers processed over 128 Million transactions really worth over RM7. 2 billion in Gross Transaction Volume (GTV), a 40% boost over the previous calendar year. New paying stores coming onto system have also seen a 5x growth from your year before. Most of all, acquisition costs for new customers have enhanced to near break-even within the first month. To match the surging demand, StoreHub has been expanding its team accordingly, bringing in more than 100 new employs in the last 6 months.

“Considering comparable companies like Toasted bread (NYSE: TOST) are usually valued at US$10. 13 billion (as at 20 Sept), StoreHub already offers approximately a quarter associated with Toast’s customer size with another approximated 2 million a lot more potential businesses within Thailand, Malaysia, plus Philippines to on-ship. This in turn creates the playbook for “rest of world”. All of us believe StoreHub produces incredible value designed for so many more SMEs, ” Khailee enthused

In 2021, StoreHub reached close to net profitability by growing average customer revenue throughout the outbreak. The latest funding round will be used to keep on meeting demand while maintaining positive device economics, and purchasing technology innovation in order to deepen the value for every customer.

Since its start, StoreHub has offered a wide range of SME merchants in Malaysia solely, ranging from locally-grown multistore cafes like VCR and Nasken Coffee (a homegrown string of cafes with 18 stores across the East Coast) to restaurants like Grub by Ahong & Friends and WoodFire.