Singapore social ecommerce startup WeBuy banks $6m in Wavemaker-led round

Singapore-based social ecommerce startup WeBuy said it has raised US$6 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC firm Wavemaker Partners. This brings the company’s total funding to US$9 million.

Centauri Fund, a growth-stage fund launched by the VC arm of Telkom Indonesia and a unit of South Korea’s KB Financial Group, followed up on the round, according to a statement. It also saw support from Rocket Internet’s investment division Global Founders Capital.

The WeBuy team / Photo credit: WeBuy

Founded last year, the company offers affordable local food and beverage (F&B) products through its platform that runs on a group buying model. WeBuy said it designed its platform to mimic social media influencer-driven interactions to increase the visibility of small merchants.

After Singapore, the company expanded its reach to Malaysia in January and Indonesia in May of this year. WeBuy also launched its mobile app in August to further drive its growth in the region.

It plans to use the new funds to bankroll a hiring spree across the three markets and strengthen its platform. WeBuy also said it has inked a partnership with Chinese internet giant ByteDance – set to take effect in the first quarter of 2021 – to bolster its social capabilities.

In addition, the startup said it looks to expand further into the region, setting its sights on Vietnam and the Philippines.

“Current Southeast Asian consumer habits are driven more by influence rather than necessity,” said WeBuy co-founder and CEO Vincent Xue. If social media platforms dictate consumption trends, WeBuy’s social ecommerce platform aims to reconstruct the act of daily consumption and interaction.”

See Also: After social ecommerce’s success in China, WeBuy tests the waters in Southeast Asia

The company said that since the start of 2020, it has grown fivefold in the span of 10 months. It now serves roughly 3,000 group-buy leaders who collate and purchase orders for over 100,000 consumers from its existing markets.