East Ventures backs $11m round of SG food surplus marketplace

Singapore-based TreeDots, a food supply chain ecosystem and food surplus marketplace, has raised US$11 million in a series A round co-led by Amasia and East Ventures.

Other investors include Active Fund and Seeds Capital, as well as high-net-worth individuals such as author Nir Eyal and actor Fiona Xie, according to a statement.

TreeDots co-founder and CEO Tylor Jong / Photo credit: TreeDots

TreeDots operates a marketplace for surplus and imperfect food supplies to help lessen the issue of food loss, particularly edible food that is discarded. The startup also offers suppliers with logistics services, allowing them to focus their efforts on food processing and manufacturing.

While buyers on the TreeDots platform initially comprised of just food and beverage franchises, the company launched a social commerce platform that allows groups of customers to purchase the same products at heavily discounted prices.

The company was founded by Tylor Jong, Lau Jia Cai, and Nicholas Lim in 2018. It expanded to Malaysia last year, and it expects further regional expansion ahead. Without stating specifics, TreeDots said its gross merchandise value has grown over 4x year-over-year, even amid Covid-19.

In addition to the funding, Janet Sarah Neo, vice president of corporate sustainability and government affairs at Lazada and executive board member at Temasek Foundation Liveability, will be joining TreeDots as a board observer.