RM3 million raised in equity crowdfunding to support Malaysian retailers weather and recover from pandemic-induced challenges
Bringing a pre-IPO opportunity to ECF investors
Everyday investors in Fundnel's network gained a unique opportunity to support and validate eatcosys' exponential growth before its IPO plans in the near-term. With eatcosys' experienced management team, Fundnel hosted several virtual events to enable our investors to interact with and respond to the company's investment presentation.
Fundnel and eatcosys' shared values of having Malaysians share in a company's growth and the growth of the country — especially during this challenging economic climate — culminated in over 90 investors participating in the ECF campaign, raising RM3 million for eatcosys
Forging synergies and long-term relationships
eatcosys’ Group Co-CEOs Tham Lih Chung and Vincent Kok are no strangers to fundraising with Fundnel. Both have had their experience prior when they have successfully completed fundraising campaigns for Union Roastery (a coffee roastery, catering distribution and retail enterprise) and VMO (an event booking platform for event spaces and services). When the opportunity to raise funds for eatcosys ahead of its IPO arose, Fundnel was their platform of choice.
A chat with Vincent Kok, CEO of eatcosys
What has traction looked like for eatcosys since the successful fundraise?
While eatcosys was already steadily growing before the fundraise, the extra infusion of cash from the raise has accelerated our pace of growth.
Since the raise, eatcosys has launched our working capital financing solution and that has helped not just eatcosys to scale our business but also the companies that we provide working capital to. This is in keeping with our mission of serving the under-served businesses in Malaysia.
What are your priorities for future growth with this round of funding?
eatcosys is expanding the suite of services for retail and financial technology we have and are aiming to provide consumers and merchant users with greater convenience.
For example, the FoodAdvisor App is going to make finding dining deals and food discoveries seamless, and we think that will contribute to bringing diners back to the outlets to dine-in. So, you see, our priority of growth is anchored on our mission.
What challenges would you say the team faced while fundraising during COVID-19 and how Fundnel was able to assist and add value to your ECF strategy?
While we talk about the efficiencies of fundraising online, the lack of physical interaction is a challenge in fundraising. Subtle nuances are often lost or not caught online.
However, Fundnel's network of investors had been well conditioned to investing online, so it made the pitching smoother. Added with Fundnel's base of investors beyond Malaysia, we could reach a wider audience.
What was your experience like working with Fundnel?
We have had a long history with Fundnel. When we initially started VMO (the genesis of eatcosys) in 2014, Fundnel helped me prepare my pitch deck even though they could not help with our fundraise then. So, we would say our experience with Fundnel started on an exceptionally good note. When it came time to do our fundraise for eatcosys, it was a natural choice to work with Fundnel.