Participated · Series C · Feb 2019

ViSenze is a Singapore-based image-recognition startup founded in 2012 that offers a “personal shopping concierge” platform for retailers. Its core product combines visual search, automatic photo tagging and recommendation algorithms that surface products based on images and browsing history. The company serves clients including Rakuten, ASOS, Urban Outfitters, Zalora and Uniqlo across verticals such as fashion, jewelry, furniture and intellectual property. ViSenze reports an annual revenue growth rate of more than 200 percent and maintains offices in Asia, Europe and the United States. The company says it will use the new funding to further develop its software through partnerships with smartphone makers including Samsung, LG and Huawei. Other startups in the same space include Syte.ai, Slyce, Clarifai and Imagga. ViSenze develops artificial-intelligence products for e-commerce, beginning with a visual search feature that lets shoppers find products from images. The company is rolling out two new products: contextual video advertising that inserts relevant ads into or around video content, and an image-to-text capability to enable more customizable searches from uploaded images. Customers and partners mentioned include Myntra and Zalora, and global video site Viki (owned by Rakuten) is cited as a partner. ViSenze was spun out of the National University of Singapore more than three years ago and currently has a headcount of 40, which the company expects to easily double before year-end. The startup plans to use recent funding to hire, double down on R&D, accelerate its go-to-market strategy, reinvest in its technology, and expand business-development offices. ViSenze develops image-recognition products for visual search, including a cloud-based tool called ViSearch. The company is positioned to enable visual shopping features for e-commerce sites and apps, particularly in fashion. Seven months before this raise it began collaborating with Rakuten Taiwan to launch visual fashion search and recognition tools. ViSenze is a spin-off of the National University of Singapore and is headquartered in Singapore. The company announced a $3.5M Series A led by Rakuten Ventures as its current financing event. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Led · Equity · May 2018

GoQuo is a Malaysia-based aviation e-commerce company. It is reported to be raising close to $6 million in a funding round. The round is said to be led by Singapore Press Holdings and includes Monk’s Hill Ventures and Kuala Lumpur-based TH Capital. The article also notes Traveloka may join the round. No details on valuation, instrument type, use of proceeds, or operating metrics were disclosed in the coverage. GoQuo provides a full-service e-commerce solution to airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) to create personalized and inspiring digital shopping experiences. Its platform is designed to increase ancillary revenue from non-air products. Customers include Malaysia Airlines, Lionair, Mihin Lanka, Malindo, Vietnam Airlines and Macau Express, as well as tour operators, car rental companies, hotel chains and insurance providers worldwide. The company was established in 2002 by CEO Ron Ramanan and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. GoQuo raised a funding round from venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures. The company says it will use the funds to continue to expand operations.

Participated · Equity · Oct 2016

Wochit is a social video creation platform that enables newsrooms, media companies and brands to create socially-optimized videos at scale. Led by co-founder and CEO Dror Ginzberg, the platform offers cloud-based editing tools, native uploads, and access to rights-cleared assets from AP, Reuters, Getty, Bloomberg and others. Users worldwide include Time Inc., Daily News, USA Today, Gannett, AOL, The Week, ProSieben, Singapore Straits Times, Die Welt and Der Spiegel. The company received a strategic investment from PA Group; the amount of the deal was not disclosed. The investment is intended to fund development of new tools and features to enhance Wochit’s technology and to support global expansion. Wochit is backed by Redpoint Ventures, Marker LLC, Greycroft Partners, Cedar Fund, ProSieben, Singapore Press Holdings’ SPH Media Fund and Carlo de Benedetti, and maintains offices in London and Tel Aviv. Wochit provides a cloud-based platform that automates production of timely, socially-optimized short-form video, pairing newsroom workflows with a large library of pre-licensed assets from agencies such as AP, Reuters, Getty and Bloomberg. Its tools target newsrooms, media companies and brands, enabling faster production around trending topics. Worldwide media brands including Time Inc., Daily News, USA Today, Gannett, AOL, The Week, ProSieben, Singapore Straits Times, Die Welt and Der Spiegel use the platform. Led by co-founder and CEO Dror Ginzberg, the company aims to expand its business with publishers and content creators worldwide. The company plans to use the newly raised capital to further enhance its technology and global expansion efforts. Wochit is based in New York City and also maintains offices in London and Tel Aviv. Wochit provides a text-to-video platform that uses natural-language search to spider articles, pull fully licensed content, and generate scripts to create videos. The company offers end-to-end video production for a per-video fee and takes a cut of ad revenue, while also offering a self-service mode for publishers seeking editorial control. Wochit coordinates human voice-over talent (reported turnaround of two-to-three minutes) and operates branded channels for general and entertainment news. High-profile customers include Forbes, AOLOn, The Chicago Tribune, and Yahoo. The company relocated its headquarters to New York from Israel to be closer to media clients. Wochit raised $11 million in new financing and had previously raised $4.75 million in May 2013. The new capital will be used to expand sales and business development, improve the product, and build out the engineering team. Wochit provides a platform that leverages technology and production expertise to create real-time news videos that publishers can select and integrate based on topical relevance. The company serves websites, mobile applications, news organizations, blogs and other publishing entities. It plans to use the new capital to accelerate sales and roll out initiatives that organize content by channels on particular subjects, which customers can embed as automatically refreshed feeds. The product emphasis is on quickly producing topical video tailored to audience interests. Wochit is led by co-founder and CEO Dror Ginzberg and CTO Ran Oz. The company is based in New York and Tel Aviv and recently closed a fresh institutional financing.

Led · Series A · Jan 2016

Snapcart is a two-year-old startup that collects consumer receipts via a mobile app to generate retail spending insights in emerging markets. Users upload receipts in exchange for cash back, and Snapcart applies OCR, big-data and machine-learning techniques to extract product-level information. The company reports more than 700,000 users across Indonesia and the Philippines, operates a business-development office in Singapore, and serves over 75 clients including Unilever, L’Oreal and Nestlé. Snapcart has about 80 staffers, roughly 80% of whom are non-sales, and notes long enterprise sales cycles with roughly 30 companies contributing 80% of sales. The firm plans to use new capital to expand into additional frontier markets (it is evaluating more than 30 destinations and expects to narrow that to five launches), invest in R&D, and improve its OCR and merchant-facing products. It positions itself as a challenger to established research firms such as Nielsen. Snapcart’s core product is a mobile app that incentivizes consumers to upload shopping receipts in exchange for cash-back rewards; those receipts are processed (OCR and data analysis) into consumer insights and reports for brands. The company launched in September 2015 and initially focused on Indonesia, later expanding into the Philippines; its Manila team houses AI and data analysis work on OCR and line-item extraction. Snapcart serves a roster of 75+ brands, including L’Oreal, Nestle and Unilever, and limits its active user panel to around 50,000 per market to maintain representativeness. It reports a 45% monthly active user retention rate after 30 days and emphasizes repeat usage as the key metric for data quality and predictive modeling. The company has opened a business development office in Singapore (service not active there) and is conducting due diligence on a likely expansion into Thailand. Management plans to focus on upselling new services to existing clients before broadening its client base and aims to use recent financing to push toward a Series A. Snapcart, founded in 2015 and based in Jakarta, provides a cashback app that incentivizes consumers by rewarding them in exchange for scans of their shopping receipts. The company aggregates those receipt scans into insights for brands and retailers, offering accurate measurement of consumer behavior. In January 2016 Snapcart raised $1.675M in a pre-Series A round. The round was led by Wavemaker Partners and SPH Media Fund, with participation from existing backers Sinar Mas Digital Ventures and Ardent Capital. The company said it intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations. Co-founders are Reynazran Royono (CEO), Laith Abu Rakty (CTO) and Mayeth Condicion (CDO).

Participated · Series A · Nov 2015

Burpple is a mobile app and website that helps users decide where to eat based on recommendations from other food-lovers and Burpple editors. Launched in 2012 and led by CEO Dixon Chan, the company recently introduced an online service for F&B owners called Burpple for Business. More than 1,000 F&B owners have signed up for that service. Burpple is available for free on the Apple App Store, Google Play and the web. The company raised US$6M to enhance existing features, introduce complimentary dining services, hire engineers and product development staff, and prepare for a regional roll out. Existing shareholders include Neoteny Labs, Silicon Straits, NUS Technologies Holdings and QuestVC. Burpple is a mobile app that connects food lovers by allowing users to upload and share photos of dishes, follow other users, and ‘reburp’ favorites. The app organizes food photos into categories (e.g., healthy, home-cooked, special occasion) and automatically records time and location for uploads, using Foursquare to suggest nearby restaurants. Launched in December 2011 by Dixon Chan, Elisha Ong, and Daniel Hum, Burpple reports users in 3,300 cities across 115 countries and more than 170,000 shared dishes. Most users are concentrated in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with additional presence in the US, Canada, and Australia. Burpple is available on iOS and an Android version is in development, and it offers a simplified Chinese version for Asian markets. The company has been recognized regionally, including being named one of the top 10 startups in Asia at Open Web Asia 2012.