Singapore’s RedMart raises $26.7M to prepare for regional expansion

RedMart, a Singapore-based online groceries marketplace, this morning announced it has raised US$26.7 million in a bridge round of funding. This will lead to a series C round later in the year that will fund international expansion and product development.

Existing investors Garena, Softbank Ventures Korea, Visionnaire Ventures, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin joined the round in a show of confidence in the startup, which for financial year 2014 saw a jump in revenue but an even greater jump in losses, to US$9.43 million and US$29.4 million respectively. The losses are presumably due to investments in infrastructure.

RedMart said today it has hired Colin Bryar, a former Amazon vice president, as the company’s chief operating officer to oversee engineering, marketing, and operations. He took over these roles from co-founder Vikram Rupani, who is now the President. At Amazon, Bryar spent two years as a technical advisor to chief executive Jeff Bezos.

A notable new investor, who came in at the bridge round, is Far East Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Far East Organization, one of Singapore’s largest property developers. Far East has been active in startups lately, acting as a limited partner in a number of funds, and investing directly in companies.

With the money, RedMart plans to launch an on-demand marketplace. Details are scant, but this could be its answer to Honestbee, a new Singapore startup which can deliver groceries in under two hours. It’ll also expand its own private label for dry and fresh goods.

RedMart did not specify exactly which markets it’s expanding into, but the company says it’s considering Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and Taipei.

As a capital intensive startup creating much of its systems from the ground up, this round of funding came at the right time for RedMart. It’ll need a much bigger series C raise however if it is to secure its future for the next few years and reach financial sustainability.