Tech execs’ angel network, Altair invest $3m in Singaporean business services startup

AI-powered business services platform Osome said it has raised US$3 million in new funding from XA Network, an investment group comprised of current and former Google employees, and private equity firm Altair Capital.

Osome’s Singapore team / Photo credit: Osome

The Singapore-based startup said it plans to use the new funds to further develop its engineering, product development, and marketing efforts across its different markets.

Osome currently serves 4,100 companies across the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong, it claimed, with its number of clients climbing 2.5x per year.

Established in 2018, Osome provides companies with business management services such as accounting, taxation, reporting, and incorporation. Its AI-enabled platform also helps small and medium businesses (SMBs) with record-keeping and corporate secretary services, as well as payroll management.

Osome said it has been working with OCBC Bank for Singapore’s Start Digital initiative, which aims to provide grants to SMBs that take up solutions meant to reduce administrative workload. The company is also enrolled under the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) SG:D Spark program, giving it simplified access to various grants.

“[The new funding] will increasingly help Osome continue to innovate the automation process for corporate services, thus increasing the efficiency of how SMEs operate in today’s post-Covid-19 norms,” noted IMDA director of innovation and tech ecosystem Edwin Low.

The company said that due to Covid-19, more businesses have been open to adopting digital solutions for different functions. A McKinsey survey also showed that enterprises have accelerated the digitization of their operations and customer supply-chain interactions by three to four years.