Vietnamese food-sourcing platform Kamereo raises $4.6m in series A round

Vietnam business-to-business platform Kamereo has raised US$4.6 million in a series A funding round co-led by Thai conglomerate CPF Group, Quest Ventures, and Genesia Ventures.

Kamereo offers a platform for food and beverage businesses to place their orders and get direct access to products from farmers.

Kamereo founder Taku Tanaka (third from left) with his management team / Photo credit: Kamereo

The startup was founded by Taku Tanaka who was the former chief operating officer of Pizza 4P, a popular pizza chain backed by Vietnam-focused private equity firm Mekong Capital.

In just three years, Pizza 4P grew from having one location in Ho Chi Minh City to 10 stores nationwide. At the time, Tanaka spotted the inefficiency of having chefs and restaurateurs negotiate with suppliers and manage orders manually.

He tells Tech in Asia that restaurants in Vietnam, 98% of which are small and medium-sized businesses, often don’t have the resources to build their own sourcing teams and mostly buy supplies like fruits and vegetables from wet markets or supermarkets. 

See also: A David vs. Goliath battle in Vietnam’s B2B ecommerce sector

Kamereo – with its higher purchasing volume – aims to cut down the costs involved by sourcing the products directly from farmers. To optimize the process, it has built a tech-enabled ordering system and also offers fulfillment services.

The company has one warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City, where the startup is based, and operates its own delivery fleet to handle orders. Kamereo now serves more than 400 active clients, which also includes supermarkets and offices.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest metropolitan area with a population of 13 million people, is currently under a 15-day lockdown to battle surging Covid-19 cases with heavy restrictions on mobility and the food and beverage sector.

Tanaka says his business was affected, especially in June, but that orders have bounced back since many new clients have relied on the platform due to the closure of wet markets. Over the past 12 months, the startup says it still sees a 15% growth in gross merchandize value.

Kamereo’s asset-heavy model can be challenging, but Tanaka notes this can be overcome by cutting down the variable costs of fulfillment and last-mile delivery while increasing the average order value per client.

The startup plans to use the new fund to increase the number of its warehouses in Ho Chi Minh City, build a warehouse management system, upgrade its website and mobile app, and expand to capital Hanoi in 2022.