- e-fulfilment startup to expand to Thailand and Vietnam with funding injection
- Funding part of extended Series B round from Jan 2021 that raised US$5.5mil
iStore iSend Pte Ltd, a Malaysian homegrown e-fulfilment startup, has received an undisclosed seven-figure investment from Kuroneko Innovation Fund, a Japanese corporate venture capital firm (owned by Yamato Holdings).
The investment is an extension of iStore iSend’s Series B funding round in January 2021 for US$5.5 million (RM23.25 million), which was already achieved by Gobi Partners and EasyParcel.
The funds will be used for talent acquisition and improving its proprietary system to help the company in its plan for cross border expansion.
Incorporated in 2015, iStore iSend provides end-to-end services to its clients from storage and pick-and-pack to delivery arrangements when an e-commerce order is received.
Joe Khoo, cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of iStore iSend said “We are hopeful that this strategic partnership will further strengthen our position in Southeast Asia. The investment from Kuroneko Innovation Fund will help us expand into the e-commerce market in neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam.”
“With the incorporation of iStore iSend into Kuroneko Innovation Fund’s portfolio, Yamato Holdings will proceed with the consideration to achieve provision of new value into the rapidly expanding e-commerce market in Asia.” said Shinji Makiura, Senior Managing Executive Officer of Yamato Holdings.
Thomas G. Tsao (pic), Cofounder and Chairman of Gobi Partners said, “The investment from Kuroneko Innovation Fund is further validation of the tremendous value that iStore iSend is creating for the industry. As an ecosystem builder, Gobi is excited to build more linkages between Malaysia and Japan, and we welcome more investment from Japanese funds into Malaysian startups.”
Currently, iStore iSend deals with over 30 foreign fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands and 300 local brands. In addition to its presence in countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, the company plans to expand its services to other neighbouring countries like Thailand and Vietnam.
Additionally, iStore iSend looks to promote omnichannel cooperation in managing offline inventory of foreign brands, provide its own integrated management product to its warehousing partners, enhance its warehouse network construction, enhance the growth of its customers and strengthen the operations of its systems according to the customers’ needs.
“Following the decision to expand our e-commerce market in Asia, we have evaluated iStore iSend’s ability to gain a deep understanding of this particular business area. We were impressed by its product development capabilities that are able to vertically integrate entire value chains, from ordering to delivering, ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction,” said Yasuhiko Yurimoto, Founder, CEO and General Partner of Global Brain Corporation which manages the Kuroneka Innovation Fund.
“We will be supporting iStore iSend’s further growth of overseas expansion and its logistics operation strategy,” he added.
iStore iSend is a full-fledged end-to-end e-fulfilment solution provider with its proprietary system (ODiN) which consists of order management system, warehouse management system and transport management system to automate your e-commerce operations. To date, iStore iSend is currently serving more than 1000 businesses, from local business to global brands across 4 different countries – Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and China.
iStore iSend has also expanded its service offerings to E-enabler services (Gateway) for brands and retailers. The services encompass online store setup, onboarding of brands to online e-marketplaces, official online store management, growth and marketing campaigns management, listing and even customer services.