Tag: Marketplace

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Local-based marketing expert marketplace MARQETR has announced the opening of its first-ever equity crowdfunding (ECF), aimed at building its next generation technology platform, increasing headcount, amplifying its marketing activities and access new markets within Asia.

MARQETR, which is founded by marketer and brand-building entrepreneur Mawarni Adam, is a tech-enabled on-demand marketing experts marketplace, a matching platform for business users and high-skilled marketing professional that is leveraging data, technology, and digital innovations to build the future of work for the marketing industry.

According to the company, said ECF targets to raise a minimum of RM250k in return for 1.81% equity, and a maximum of RM3.25m in return for 19.35% equity. This values MARQETR at RM13.5m pre-money.

For Adam, with COVID-19 redefining the marketers’ playbook and accelerating flexible work, they don’t just have a business opportunity here, but also have a huge social opportunity, as studies have shown that there is a great corporate departure that’s happening and the 9-5 is ‘dying’, and that workers generally, and in their case marketers, are looking for alternatives.

“The way we find quality strategic marketing solutions and relevant marketing experts now is totally broken. As dynamic and vibrant as the marketing industry is, it still operates in archaic ways. Business users don’t have access to all their options and when they do find the option, the process is frictioned, long and complex,” Adam stated.

She further explained, “Based on our research, we’ve estimated that there will be at least 50,000 marketers in Malaysia, and 440,000 marketers regionally, making the shift to on-demand and flexible work. When combined with the growing needs of an estimated 64,000 startups and 6.4m SMEs in the region, adopting the same on-demand marketing strategies during a period of unprecedented economic turmoil and post-pandemic trends.”

Additionally, Adam believes that MARQETR is primed for growth to address the capability gap and empower both the service users and providers within a supported marketing ecosystem.

MARQETR’s seed round is open to individuals, angels, institutional investors and members of the marketing community. Investors are able to invest as little as RM2,709 to own a piece of the company, and help shape the future of the brand. Early bird offers of up to 15% bonus shares are available until 31 October 2021.

Manila, Philippines – As the pandemic forced live events to go virtual, Globe’s corporate venture builder 917Ventures in the Philippines has decided to roll out a new marketplace platform, called ‘Fanlife’, which is made to cater to K-pop and K-drama supporters. 

‘Fanlife’ is the ultimate marketplace platform for the said fans and will offer exclusive experiences and official merchandise. Fans may learn more about their favorite artists via exclusive content and get a chance to meet them. They will be able to stoke their love for their favorite artists with collectibles and merchandise available on the e-commerce site.

‘Fanlife’ was one of the selections from the first batch of the Velocity program, a 917Ventures initiative that helps aspiring entrepreneurs build successful businesses. It aims to expand the reach and engagement between local and international artists and their supporters, offering an immersive experience on www.fanlife.ph. 

“Fanlife connects you to your favorite artists through exciting experiences, bringing you closer to them with just a click. You may also discover your new favorite artist and be a part of your favorite artists’ communities all within the website,” said Aya Villa-Real, the Venture Builder of Fanlife.

Meanwhile, Vince Yamat, the managing director of 917Ventures, commented, “We believe the best ideas and ventures come from such a diverse entrepreneurial base in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. As such, Velocity provides venture builders the opportunity to build businesses leveraging on the advantage of operating within 917Ventures and Globe.”

The new platform comes as local telco giant Globe, the parent company of 917Ventures, recently announced that it is looking to scout new businesses to explore other sources of income, as both global and local telecommunication revenues were greatly affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Merchant commerce platform Pine Labs has announced that it will be making its Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) feature in Malaysia, following the foray of its subsidiary Pine Payment Solutions, a payment platform in the country and the success of its offline BNPL solution in India.

The expansion comes at an interesting time when there is pent-up demand among consumers after a prolonged period of lockdown; consumers want easier access to credit and merchants are looking for newer ways to revive sales.

Pine Labs is providing a tech-first offline payments solution where on a single terminal, multiple credit issuers can make BNPL offers to customers. 

Pine Labs’ BNPL launch in Malaysia will further accelerate digital payments adoption in the country and make it possible for merchants to sell more in this tough business environment post the pandemic.

Some of the available banks in the platform include CIMB Bank, AmBank, HSBC Bank, AFFIN BANK, and RHB Bank. 

“It is an excellent product and a win-win proposition for everyone involved including consumers who get affordable buying options, merchants who are getting an enticing proposition to woo customers back to the stores and boost their sales, and banks and brands who get to build their brand loyalty,” said Kush Mehra, chief business officer at Pine Labs.

He also mentioned that their recent partnership with financial services Mastercard will enable them to expand across other markets.

The company has ambitious plans as well to launch BNPL in the rest of the Southeast Asia markets. Late last year, Pine Labs had announced its intent to launch an integrated pay later installment solution in partnership with Mastercard to markets like Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Singapore – Singapore-born e-commerce company Shopmatic has announced the launch of four new solutions and platforms for small-medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to expand into emerging markets.

First on their releases is Shopmatic Chat, which allows SMEs to be connected and sell to their customers via Chat such as WhatsApp, Telegram,  and  Line, among others Via the feature, SMEs will also be able to do their customer interactions via Shopmatic Social on Facebook and  Instagram. 

Meanwhile, sellers can also venture out their marketplace to various marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee through Shopmatic’s MarketPlaces. This then allows sellers to control all of their multiple marketplace presence all through one dashboard by Shopmatic.

Another new solution, Shopmatic Webstore, allows sellers to create a web store ecosystem, complete with all features like payment and shipping integrations, chat and social selling, multiple beautiful templates, and domain name.

Aside from the four platforms released, Shopmatic is also working on a Single Checkout link, to which the sellers can  share across their multiple marketplace presence. This then allows the buyer less interaction with the seller, ensuring improved conversion rates.

“With years of working closely with small and medium business owners and individual entrepreneurs, we understand the unique needs of different sets of customers. We realise that offering a one solution approach for all sellers makes it challenging for some sellers and caters to a small segment of merchants in emerging markets. With the new solution, we are extremely excited that we can now bring in millions of sellers in the emerging markets into the eCommerce ecosystem,” said Anurag Avula, co-founder and CEO of  Shopmatic.

He also added, “We are delighted with the exciting innovations of four different eCommerce solutions and the Single Checkout Link that will enable sellers to be successful easier and faster. We believe this to be game-changing in our continued desire to support sellers with unique and relevant eCommerce solutions.”

The new solutions are available in the Shopmatic platform for a fee of SGD 1 per month of hosting, or SGD 20 for a year of subscription.

Hong Kong – HGC Global Communications (HGC) has launched its retail ICT (information, communications, and technology) solution to cater to the needs of SME retailers in making their digital transformation strategy easier, especially as enterprise activity has been greatly affected by the pandemic.

An initial offering by the network company is making retailers stay connected to their customers, including Whatsapp+ service and automated chatbots for the retailer’s online chat system.

Furthermore, the new offering also aids SMEs in creating their online shop from scratch, including marketplace tools such as inventory management, trade reports, and analysis, as well as support for multiple payment methods.

Lastly, the digital offering allows retailers, more specifically in the catering industry,  to practice electronic point of sale (ePOS) systems. The system supports digital menus, enabling customers to use their smartphones to order and pay for meals. This can reduce the necessary manpower and limit mistaken orders, so restaurants can deploy staff more flexibly and efficiently. 

“SMEs are facing various challenges running their business in the midst of the pandemic. Even so, this presents retailers with an important opportunity to optimize their business operations. HGC strives to stand by SMEs at this critical time. Our Retail ICT solution can efficiently address the difficulties they encounter,” said Joe Cheong, COO for corporate business & enterprise market at HGC.

He added, “With the professional follow-up and support provided by HGC’s consultant teams, as well as our competitive pricing, we can guide them on a journey of rapid digital transformation to achieve significant improvements in operational efficiency. We hope to ease the pressure on SMEs, empowering them to continue running their business and identifying new business opportunities even during the pandemic.”

In addition to the digital marketplace package, HGC also offers retailers a unified communication solution (HGC UC) that combines business voice and mobile communication, plus other value-added services like mobile video conferencing to fulfill the needs of enterprises operating during the pandemic through a one-stop ICT solution.