Asia Partners leads $37m raise of Singapore-based SCI Ecommerce

Singapore-based cross-border ecommerce enabler SCI Ecommerce said it raised over S$50 million (US$37.5 million) in a round led by Southeast Asia-focused VC firm Asia Partners.

Photo credit: SCI Ecommerce

SCI, which is short for Singapore, China, Indonesia, plans to use the fresh investment to develop new software tools for its brand partners and expand its geographic capabilities for ecommerce operations and fulfillment.

The funding comes after SCI more than doubled its 2019 revenues to over US$100 million in 2020, according to the company. It also said it has been EBITDA positive since 2019 and was net income-positive last year.

The startup is planning of going public in the US by the end of this year and targets a valuation of US$1 billion, SCI’s CEO Joseph Liu told Bloomberg. The company will also consider a secondary listing on the Singapore stock exchange.

VentureCap Insights pegged the company’s valuation at around US$225.8 million post-money, more than 5x its valuation of US$40.5 million after its 2019 funding round.

“This fundraising round, the first large institutional equity investment in SCI’s history, is a strong endorsement of our integrated business model that serves many of the world’s most iconic consumer brands,” said SCI CEO Joseph Liu Jiannan.

The startup was founded in 2014 and provides end-to-end ecommerce solutions to help brands expand into both the Southeast Asian and Chinese cross-border ecommerce markets by setting up and managing online stores. It has since grown to have offices in Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

SCI provides its services to partners such as Unilever, Abbot, Stanley Black & Decker, Crayola, and Vinda. It’s also a certified ecommerce solutions provider for major online shopping platforms, including Alibaba’s Tmall, Lazada, and Shopee.