Revenue-based financing firm pumps $120k into Malaysian green ecommerce firm

Choco Up, a revenue-based financing platform based in Hong Kong, announced that it has invested US$120,000 in Poptron, a Malaysian ecommerce platform for eco-friendly products.

The deal with Choco Up will fund the Kuala Lumpur-based firm’s plans to enter Singapore and expand its lineup of sustainable products.

Poptron team / Photo credit: Poptron

Launched in September 2020, Poptron gives online consumers access to high-quality, nature-friendly microbrands. The company says it currently hosts over 100 microbrands and more than 2,000 different types of product listings.

This latest investment comes after the ecommerce firm’s US$1 million seed funding round in January.

Choco Up makes investments of between US$10,000 and US$10 million into individual startups. The Hong Kong-headquartered firm implements a revenue-sharing model and charges a flat fee, offering less stringent terms to firms in need of funding.

“The effects of climate change in Asia have given rise to more socially conscious consumers as well as brands, and they can now easily connect with each other using Poptron’s platform,” said Choco Up co-founder and CEO Percy Hung.

Meanwhile, Poptron plans to capture US$1.6 billion of the microbrand market share by 2025, the firm said in a statement.

A McKinsey podcast said that climate change, specifically related to heat and humidity, puts US$4.7 trillion of Asia’s gross domestic product at risk every year. The global green technology and sustainable market, on the other hand, is expected to be worth US$36.6 billion by 2025, with Asia getting the biggest growth.