The low-down on this profitable SaaS firm’s secret sauce

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The Covid-19 pandemic brought on a wave of digitalization across economies. For instance, digital payments soared, and I, for one, conduct nearly all my transactions through online payments nowadays.

Services from cashless payments to contactless deliveries, however, were only made available for companies of all sizes thanks to a burgeoning software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector. One such pandemic-propelled firm is Aigens, a company that offers omnichannel ordering solutions for the food and beverage industry.

The firm recently secured US$14 million in a series A round led by Alibaba’s Ant Group. In today’s featured piece, Hans Paul, Aigens’ co-founder and CEO, tells Tech in Asia how the company is on the hunt for new fortunes in the hospitality industry, while laying out the benefits of its new partnership with Alipay+ D-store.

Further, Paul outlines Aigens’ unique, enterprises-centric approach to profitability and why the strength of the dining segment during tough times means that the Hong Kong-headquartered company is recession-ready.

Today we look at:

• A profitable SaaS firm making waves in the F&B space
• Chinese discount retailers Vipshop’s foray into Southeast Asia
• Other newsy highlights such as the benefits of guerrilla marketing for SaaS firms and AnyMind hitting the brake on its IPO in Tokyo

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On the rise

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A quick scan of Aigens’ growth over the last few years will show why big-name investors such as Velocity Ventures and Ant Group have been keen to grab a slice of the pie.

In addition to boasting a stellar lineup of clients such as Burger King, Genki Sushi, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Shake Shack, and Jollibee, Aigens now processes over US$1 billion in gross merchandise value and 140 million orders annually. “Our number of outlets as well as GMV has grown 4x in the last two years,” says CEO Paul.

• The secret sauce: Firms in the restaurant tech space usually begin with catering to SMEs before heading upstream to larger players. However, Aigens rewrote the playbook to build around enterprises – a key reason for its profitability, according to Paul. “Enterprises are also usually financially healthy, meaning they would pay us,” he says.
• All eyes on Southeast Asia: Aigens sees potential in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines in particular due to high smartphone and mobile wallet adoption in these countries. Further, the firm, which has doubled its headcount from 2020, will use part of the fresh funds to get more people on board across Southeast Asia.
• Expanding horizons: Part of Aigens’ plan for 2023 is to grow aggressively in the hospitality industry. The firm has already signed on several hotel chains as customers, such as Hyatt, Accor, Mercure, and Sofitel, by offering them software for room service, among other things.

Read more: The profitable F&B SaaS firm that got Ant’s attention

Another ecommerce giant enters Southeast Asia

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