Ecommerce enabler aCommerce raises $65m to reach more markets in Southeast Asia

Co-founder and group CEO Paul Srivorakul. Photo credit: aCommerce.

Southeast Asian ecommerce services provider aCommerce announced the closing of its series B today, a deal worth US$65 million.

The round is led by Emerald Media, an investment vehicle set up by international investors KKR along with several existing backers: Australia fund Blue Sky, Telkom Indonesia venture arm MDI Ventures, and Swiss market expansion services provider DKSH. The Zurich-headquartered firm previously poured an undisclosed amount of funding in the startup for a 20 percent stake.

The funding will be used to improve aCommerce’s online software that allows merchants to sell and distribute goods through a number of ecommerce platforms, establish more partnerships in the startup’s current markets, and seek out clients in new markets like Malaysia and Vietnam.

At the moment, Bangkok-based aCommerce operates in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It’s working with international brands like Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Philips, and Mars to help them distribute their products online in the region.

“At the beginning of the region’s adoption of online, it was enough to simply have a website. Fast-forward a few years later and brands are realizing in order to stay ahead of the retail game, they need to be omnipresent and data hungry to fully control all pricing and consumer touch points,” co-founder and group CEO Paul Srivorakul says in a statement.

The company had announced its plans to raise a series B two years ago, aiming for US$30 million. In the meantime, it clinched the DKSH deal and raised some bridge funding from MDI.

Including this funding, aCommerce will have raised a disclosed total of US$95 million.