Thai cross-border ecommerce solutions firm bags funding from 500 Startups, Expara

CloudCommerce CEO Wootinun Sungong / Photo credit: CloudCommerce

Cross-border ecommerce is a massive industry in Asia. A joint study by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank forecasts that the market opportunity in Asia Pacific will grow to US$476 billion by 2020 – higher than any other region. Case in point, a majority of people in countries like Singapore and Hong Kong already shop from both domestic and overseas sites regularly.

But because of how rapid this growth has been, the ecosystem hasn’t caught up. Parcel congestion, poor logistics performance, and inconsistent duty and tax collection are just some of the problems ecommerce firms have to contend with.

Thai serial entrepreneur Wootinun Sungong experienced these problems firsthand in 2004, when he set up an ecommerce business that sold boxing equipment. “Cross-border ecommerce in Thailand is expensive. You need a large amount [of products] to ship out, and the process requires a lot of documents,” he shares.

That prompted him to start CloudCommerce, which provides cross-border ecommerce solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises in Thailand.

While the company was launched in 2016, it released its first product in 2018 and swiftly drew interest. That same year, CloudCommerce raised a US$300,000 seed round from 500 Startups and Thai venture capital firm Intania Open Innovation Club.

And this month, it’s just closed a US$500,000 pre-series A round from the same investors, along with Expara Ventures, which led the fundraise, and Chulalongkorn Venture.

Helping SMEs

Most export logistics companies require a bigger shipment before sending products overseas. This makes it difficult and expensive for SMEs and startups, which often run smaller operations. First-time entrepreneurs are also affected, as they often don’t know how cross-border ecommerce works.

CloudCommerce’s logistics service FastShip allows business owners in Thailand to book deliveries and export products anywhere in the world from just one website.

“We consolidate the shipment of small orders together and ship them out so everyone gets a cheaper price,” Sungong adds.

This is how the startup actually earns. It may charge three customers US$5 each, for example, and then bundle all orders into one shipment that could cost US$10, giving the company a US$5 margin.

CloudCommerce’s flagship service was launched in 2018. Since then, the company has been working to expand its product portfolio.

It will roll out within this year FastBox, a fulfillment platform designed to give SMEs access to a global network of warehouses to store their inventory, and CloudMall, a one-stop solution for SMEs that want to list on global marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba. CloudMall will offer solutions to optimize product listings and help manage the marketplace, among others.

For now, FastShip is catering to 13,000 customers and has broken even, claims the CEO. However, CloudCommerce is not yet profitable, as it invests in building out the two other verticals. FastBox and CloudMall have just completed user tests with roughly 100 customers.

Uphill battle