26/1/2018 – Vertex Ventures Holdings Ltd, a member of Temasek Holdings has recently led a Series A round in Malaysian PoS startup StoreHub, alongside other investors including Cradle Seed Ventures, Accord Ventures, and Fintonia.
With this newly raised capital, StoreHub plans to expand its presence in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, as well as opening new markets across Southeast Asia.
“Most retailers in Thailand and Philippines have not yet adopted the technology,” said StoreHub’s Founder and CEO Wai Hong Fong. “But as online retailers continue to develop and challenge brick and mortar stores, there’s an urgency to improve and adopt technology.”
“And that’s where StarHub comes in. It can help them run their businesses more efficiently, attract new customers or improve their inventory management and ordering.”
Founded in April 2014, StoreHub provides a retail management platform that enables SME retailers to compete in a fast-changing retail landscape. The point-of-sale (PoS) system is cloud-based and includes intelligent inventory management, CRM, and business analytics.
To use the retail management systems, businesses simply have to pay a subscription fee starting from US$39 per month. Currently, it is used in over 3,000 retail stores across 15 countries.
In fact, StarHub claims it has helped these businesses transact over MYR1.1 billion (US$270 million) in sales.
“StoreHub gives SME businesses a foretaste of the future of POS, and helps them launch and exploit new business opportunities without having to devote significant resources in hiring a team of experts in-house,” said Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India.
The startup currently has a team of 80 staff operators from offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, and Shanghai. It intends to double the team by the end of the year, in addition to launching new product features to help brick-and-mortar retailers digitize and expand their online presence.
Vertex Ventures is a subsidiary of Temasek Capital, a national wealth fund owned by the Government of Singapore. It is an early investor for tech giants like Grab, Reebonz, and Patsnap.
