Myanmar digital content firm BIT closes 7-digit series B round

In Myanmar, which has over 50 million people, 85% of all internet traffic comes from smartphones. However, its tech space is often at the bottom of the list when investors look for investment opportunities in Southeast Asia, Bagan Innovation Technology (BIT) said. The local digital content provider wants to change that.

Today, the company announced that it’s bagged a seven-figure investment. The series B funding round was led by Kyuu Roku, a Japanese investment holding company founded by angel investor Seiji Kurokoshi, who already has several investments in Myanmar. Existing shareholder UMJ Ikeya Investment and Hotto Link, a social data provider in Japan, also participated in the round.

Bagan Innovation Technology founders (from left): Soe Khine Win (CTO), Thet Lynn Han (CEO), and Win Hlaing Oo (COO) / Photo credit: Bagan Innovation Technology

Founded in 2012, BIT’s mobile-centric products include Wun Zinn, an e-book and web series platform that offers over 5,000 physical books for door-to-door delivery. It has more than 2 million users, according to the company’s website. BIT also operates Min Thein Kha, an astrologer marketplace that has over 600,000 users, the startup claims.

Other products include Frozen and Bagan, mobile keyboards with automatic speech recognition for the Burmese language, and BI Miner, a social listening tool that provides sentiment analysis to businesses in Myanmar. The company has also developed Therapa, a social commerce chatbot that can take inquiries, check stocks, and complete orders.

BIT said it will use the new funds to scale its core products and strengthen its market position as a top tech provider for the Burmese language. It also wants to double the revenues for Min Thein Kha this year, while doubling down on Wun Zinn.

The company claims that its astrologer marketplace has grown 7x in revenues last year, while the digital content business has grown over 2x. It also said it will invest more in content and writers, as reading continues to be a very popular activity in Myanmar.

BIT said its advantage comes from both its capability to develop technology and a good understanding of Myanmar’s consumers.