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

In what way are Burger King in Singapore, Genki Sushi in Hong Kong, and Jollibee in the Philippines the same?

Besides the mass appeal, these restaurant chains bank on the services of Aigens, the Hong Kong-headquartered food and beverage (F&B) SaaS firm.

The company has just raised US$14 million in a series A round led by Ant Group. Velocity Ventures, Phillip Private Equity, and Prizm Ventures also participated in the round.

While most businesses are scaling back due to recent recessionary winds, Aigens is accelerating its expansion in the Asia Pacific, including setting up a regional office in the Philippines.

“If we can serve Jollibee (a popular local fast-food chain) remotely, imagine the potential if we actually have someone on the ground,” says Hans Paul, co-founder and CEO at Aigens.

Hans Paul, co-founder and CEO of Aigens / Photo credit: Aigens

Last year, the SaaS startup was one of the first two investments for a new fund by Velocity Ventures, a travel and hospitality-focused VC firm.

Founded in 2012, Aigens had never raised funding before. “We never had to raise money because we have always been profitable,” says Paul.

The restaurant tech firm’s series A raise is a reflection of the times: Since the advent of Covid-19, digitalization has turned into a must-have for restaurants, says the CEO. “We see the opportunity to aggressively expand owing to this surge in demand. Fundraising is a way to accelerate this growth.”

Plans for this expansion come against the backdrop of promising numbers. “We grew from less than a thousand outlets to 4,000 outlets in just two years. This exponential growth has convinced us that there is so much potential in both the industry and the APAC market,” says Paul.

Besides strengthening its presence in the Asia Pacific, Aigens is also making the most of its opportunities. After restaurant chains, it’s now signing up hospitality groups as clients. And a new partnership with Alipay+ D-store – which provides a suite of tools to digitalize businesses – could just be its route to newer fortunes.

An engineered approach to profitability

Aigens offers omnichannel ordering solutions for the F&B industry. It says it was the first to introduce QR code ordering technology – also known as bring your own device (BYOD) – to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia in 2017, and kiosk ordering features in 2012.

Founded by Paul and Peter Liu – both engineers by education – Aigens first hit HK$2.1 billion (around US$269 million) in gross merchandise value in 2016. In early 2020, it announced it had processed 41 million transactions for the previous year, a record high that was up 146% from 2018.

The company now processes over US$1 billion in GMV and 140 million orders annually. “Our number of outlets as well as GMV has grown 4x in the last two years,” says Paul. He adds that the company is financially healthy, though he didn’t share more details on the subject.

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