27/12/2018 – ESP Capital, a venture capital firm in Vietnam has partnered with South Korean Nextrans to enter into an unspecified investment in social selling platform Ecomobi.
Founded in 2016, Ecomobi connects businesses with advertising and content creation communities who have a strong influence and high following on social networks.
One of the precursor in advertising, Ecomobi’s products help brands to boost up sales, leads and users. The platform also provide a system which help clients track particular performance through different selling channels on the social network.
On the company’s website, Ecomobi counts Tokopedia, Lazada, Shopee, and Bukalapak among its clients.
Truong Cong Tranh, the CEO of the social selling platform said this is the startup’s second funding round, which is intended to improve its products, diversify sales channels and develop new markets.
At present, Ecomobi’s market is spreading across major countries in the Southeast Asian market including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
“We believe that Ecomobi will open a revolution in how to approach consumers, how to sell as well as internet marketing,” said ESP Capital managing director Le Hoang Uyen Vy.
She further estimated that the internet economy in Southeast Asia is estimated at about US$72 billion and is expected to reach US$240 billion by 2025, equivalent to an annual growth rate of over 22 percent.
This is in line with the growth in ecommerce, fintech, and food delivery, which makes the demand for social selling platforms like Ecomobi expected to increase sharply.
Formed in 2017, ESP Capital started with an investment corpus of US$20 million to invest in Vietnamese early-stage startups. The firm is also targeting opportunities across Southeast Asia, and has so far funded 10 companies, including eight Vietnamese startups and two Singapore-based startups.
Meanwhile, Nextrans, which has made seven investments in Vietnam, has really facilitated its Vietnamese portfolio to raise an additional US$23 million in the follow-on funding.
Nextrans’ four disclosed investments in Vietnam include EcoTruck, VLeisure, JamJa and Leflair. To date, Nextrans has invested in 32 companies in South Korea, the United States, and Vietnam.
