Digital outsourcing startup raises $3m to grab Thailand’s mobile dev market

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Thailand-based software development and outsourcing startup D8 announced today it has secured funding to the tune of US$3 million. The funding round was led by Thailand’s Kuvera Capital Group.

The fundraise has not yet been completed, according to D8 founder and president Jayson Ho, who says that the specifics of the deal are still being finalized.

D8 provides a wide range of technology-related services to business clients. Its areas of focus include automation, security and data analytics, and software development. It also offers consultancy in areas like finance, insurance, and human resources.

D8 hopes to employ 1,000 people across Thailand by 2020.

The funding will help D8 staff up in order to improve capability on mobile development, augmented and virtual reality, social media, and digital marketing. The startup hopes to employ 1,000 people across Thailand by 2020, 85 percent of which will be technical roles.

To do its part for enabling local talent and potential future hires, the firm plans to start a US$1.5 million fund for graduates who want to enhance their technical skills with specializations like Node.js, an open-source coding environment for developing tools and applications.

The D8 Scholarship Program for Thai IT graduates is expected to start mid-2017.

See: Thailand unveils a massive tech hub worth half a billion dollars

“Thailand is the smartphone capital of [Southeast Asia], and companies that are adopting these more advanced tech models and platforms are gearing themselves up to be future-ready,” Jayson says about the potential of the startup’s home market.

“Within Thailand, businesses are already transitioning into digital environments and the app industry in Thailand alone is worth hundreds of millions of US dollars per year,” he adds.

D8 has generated over US$600,000 in revenue in the past six months.