Ensogo raises $7.6M, aims to double down on partnership with Chinese etailer Vipshop

Daily deals site Ensogo today announced it has raised A$10 million (US$7.6 million) from investment firm Ward Ferry Management. 58.8 million shares will be issued to the Hong Kong-based fund at A$0.17 (US$0.13) apiece, giving it a 10.6 percent stake in the company.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, Ensogo received a strategic investment of A$6.4 million (US$4.9 million) from Chinese online discount retailer Vipshop, giving the latter a 12.2 percent stake. The two companies will enter into a partnership that will give Ensogo “access to Vipshop’s vast volume and selection of existing inventory […] to build the Vipshop of Southeast Asia,” according to a statement.

Ensogo was acquired by iBuy Group, which was operating in six countries under a variety of brands – such as Deal.com.sg in Singapore – early last year. It was only in November that the latter rebranded as Ensogo.

The inflow of fresh capital will be used primarily to build on the partnership between Ensogo and Vipshop, and continue the upward trajectory that Ensogo CEO Kris Marszalek claims it is on. “After more than doubling our gross turnover to over A$150 million (US$115 million) in 2014, we look forward to working with the Vipshop team to help further strengthen and develop Ensogo’s business throughout Southeast Asia,” he says.

When it was still known as iBuy Group, the ecommerce firm’s stocks last year sunk to a shocking low of A$0.135 (US$0.10) on the Australian Securities Exchange. It has since undergone a series of layoffs, and the investments and partnership are the latest in its attempts to regain its former poster-boy status in the region.