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Singapore-based Pixibo provides personalised size and fit recommendations in real time for online retailers and their customers. The fashion-tech startup worked with Kindrik Partners on their recent series A raise.
We spoke to founder and CEO Rohit Kumar on Pixibo, the capital raising journey, and working with Kindrik Partners.
pixibo’s story
Rohit is an ex-Googler with experience across Europe and India, before heading to Singapore to head up operations for e-commerce advertising company Sociomantic. Between 2013 and early 2016 he launched and managed all of Sociomantic’s APAC operations and was part of the team that sold the business to dunnhumby, a Tesco company.
It was at Sociomantic that Rohit identified an issue plaguing fashion e-commerce sites. People were browsing clothes online, but very few of those visits converted into sales. “The average conversion rate is 1.5%”, says Rohit.
Pixibo’s technology was formally launched in 2018, after a few years in development. The platform makes real-time size recommendations, personalised for every shopper and for every brand and SKU. For a retailer this boosts conversion rates, reduces return rate and improves customer satisfaction. Its size recommendation engine is entirely white labelled and can be natively integrated into online stores.
“In online shopping, there’s a lot of pain points, from finding something you like, to working out which size is correct for you,” says Rohit.
“Decision fatigue can come in, reducing sales and resulting in increased return rates. The Pixibo platform works to reduce the friction felt by the consumer and the retailer.”
working with kindrik partners
“I was educating myself about series A rounds when I came across Kindrik Partners’s content online,” Rohit says.
“It was my first time doing an institutional round so I was spending more time online trying to get my head around the legal terminology and the types of things that show up. Drag alongs, tag alongs, liquidation preference clauses. There’s a lot to understand.”
(confused? see our startup glossary )
“It looked like Kindrik Partners were the best lawyers for startups,” says Rohit.
“It was clear from the content that was available online that it was their area of expertise. When I eventually needed to bring in a lawyer to help with my round, I reached out.”
on the series A round
Pixibo already had several angel investors prior to their series A round in 2018, but the startup did not have any VCs on board, so the experience was new.
“We had VPs from Google who invested at an early stage, as well as strong private angel investors. But this was the first institutional round, and it felt very different.”
A big learning was how much longer the process took. “I thought you’d just go out to market, pitch, and then get them to sign. I eventually came to understand the level of process that institutional investors require, and how this stretches out the timeline.”
“There’s a great level of detail required. From investor interest to the term sheet to drafting the shareholder’s agreement, share subscription agreement and the whole nine yards, to signing, to getting money in the bank… it can take a long time!”
Fortunately, runway was less of a concern for Pixibo. “We weren’t in a rush. We had revenue, so there was no immediate need to get funding in”, says Rohit. “We already had a recurring revenue from our licence fees we were charging. That started conversations for us with investors, too.”
working with kindrik partners
Rohit found working with Kindrik Partners and partner Lee Bagshaw provided a lot of value during the capital raising process.
“Working with Lee was great. He was very responsive to my requests and concerns and was always happy to get on a call if need be to walk through things with me.”
Kindrik Partners’s experience in capital raising in Southeast Asia was also an asset to Pixibo.
“As a first time founder, sometimes you’re like wait, hang on, why is that in there? Lee was invaluable in these situations. He understood what terms were negotiable and what terms weren’t, and was instrumental during all of the back and forth with investors.”
tips for founders embarking on their A round
Rohit has a few tips for those entrepreneurs who are considering going out to do their series A round.
- start out 6 -8 months before you need the capital: especially if it’s your first institutional round (it gets easier with a follow-on round, because you’ll have existing investors to help you get your foot in the door).
- consider a rolling close: since you’re looking for investors who are the right fit in a long-term partnership, having a rolling close allowed Pixibo to get the money in the bank from the investors who were committed, while continuing to find the perfect fit to close out our round.
- beware the temptation to think that any money will do: in the beginning, the temptation is to look for anyone with a cheque book, but then you get smarter. Find the VC’s thesis and their sweet spot, and get smarter at looking at their portfolio to see if you fit in. Who will be interested in your story?
- don’t raise too soon: Traction is important. Wait until you’re in a strong position to raise, if you can. In our case, as we’re B2B, we had clear proof points that our product works, solves a real problem for online retailers and that they are willing to pay us for it. Investors will want to see that you have put in the hard work and that capital will accelerate growth.
- have a plan for the money. You have to articulate why you need capital now, and how it will help your business.
what’s to come for pixibo
The future is bright for Pixibo, and Rohit is looking ahead to expand into new markets. “The most exciting thing about us is that we’re location agnostic. The problems retailers have in Singapore are the same ones that they have in Sydney. The opportunity is massive.”
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
Singapore company CardUp is an online platform that lets individuals and SMEs pay for expenses like taxes, rent, or even payroll, using their credit card – even if the recipient doesn’t accept cards.
Cardup raised a seed round lead by top tier venture firm Sequoia Capital in late 2017. We spoke to founder Nicki Ramsay about Cardup’s journey so far.
story
Nicki got the idea for CardUp while working at a major credit card provider in Singapore. She saw that a lot of big ticket items (like tax and rent) could not be paid for with a credit card, because the recipients were not willing to go through the hassle and fees associated with the setup process. This meant that card holders were not getting benefits from these big payments such as being able to access their credit facility or earn loyalty reward points. In addition, banks were losing out on the fees that would be linked to an increase in credit card spending.
CardUp solves this by flipping the existing card processing model, acting as the middleman between cardholders that want to use their card in more ways and recipients who don’t accept card payments. CardUp users benefit from using the credit line on their card to extend the payables period for these expenses, as well as earning credit card loyalty points and rewards. In addition, the recipient does not need to have a CardUp account to receive credit card payments.
Finding the initial capital and relevant expertise needed to get a company off the ground is a challenge for a lot of the founders that we work with. This is particularly common for solo founders like Nicki, as they are not able to draw on the financial resources and connections of their co-founders. In Nicki’s case, she decided to join The Finlab (United Overseas Bank’s Singapore fintech accelerator), which was a great way to access mentorship and exposure to a wide investor community.
While at The Finlab, Nicki spent a lot of time talking to financial institutions, to get them on board with cardholders using the platform. CardUp has since secured partnerships with many of Singapore’s major banks to promote CardUp’s services. The company also promoted the platform to individuals and SMEs through its online marketing content. The focus of this material was to educate users on the platform’s benefits and how the platform works.
the financing deal
As CardUp gained more users, the company needed to raise some money to further develop its platform.
Nicki pitched to a wide range of VCs in Southeast Asia. Sequoia was a natural fit as they are deep in the payments space, and CardUp is disrupting traditional payment processing models.
Other investors included SeedPlus, who were originally introduced to Cardup by The Finlab.
The company completed its ~US$1.7m seed round in late 2017. The investment has allowed the company to triple the size of its team in just a few months.
working with us
Nicki told us that Kindrik Partners’ depth of knowledge on VC deals in Southeast Asia was a massive help throughout the capital raising process:
Kindrik Partners added a lot of value for us during the negotiation with Sequoia as they have vast experience with startup and VC deals in the region and are very familiar with the different permutations of VC term sheets. Also, because they have acted for a lot of startups taking investment from Sequoia, they saved us time and cost by telling us which points Sequoia would likely be open to negotiating.
Overall, Nicki said that the Kindrik Partners team were extremely knowledgeable, and professional to deal with.
Having worked with Nicki, we are now certain that it won’t be long before everyone will be using their credit card for important payments, like their legal fees!
Explore CardUp.
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
Fintech startups are the next big thing in the Southeast Asian tech scene. Kindrik Partners client C88 (formerly Compare88) is racing ahead of the pack after securing the backing of high-profile VC investors including Telstra Ventures.
C88 provides online financial services price comparison tools, helping consumers to compare the offers of major brands for products such as credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, vehicle loans, savings accounts and insurance. The company also offers a brokerage service, enabling consumers to purchase products directly on the C88 platform – for which C88 has secured relevant financial services licences through Southeast Asia.
Founder and CEO, J.P. Ellis, talked to us about the company’s background, its most recent series B financing round, and how they have found working with Kindrik Partners.
the c88 story
Prior to C88, founders Karl Knoflach and J.P. worked in private equity, finance, operations and leadership. The C88 senior team also consists of Gary Empl, a professional software developer with over two decades of experience leading teams in the creation of cutting-edge software in the financial services industry. Karl and Gary were part of the original founding team of einsurance.de in Munich in 1999 – a revolutionary company in the German insurance space which later became Check24.de, the German market-leader.
C88’s commercial teams in Indonesia, the Philippines and other markets are made up of senior bankers, insurance executives and sales operators with many years of experience in financial products sales and distribution. This experience, and the networks that senior team members bring, is crucial to C88 maintaining its market leader position.
J.P. notes that the Southeast Asian economy’s migration to digital begin with communities moving online for social needs. This was followed by online purchasing of physical goods, usually electronics and clothes, then travel bookings, followed more recently by financial services. This migration began in earnest in 2009, and by 2011 there were already major e-commerce providers. Online channel emerged in the insurance vertical in 2013, and C88 followed quickly releasing its platform in 2014.
J.P. observes that high traffic digital marketplaces, such as C88’s CekAja.com brand in Indonesia and eCompareMo.com brand in the Philippines, benefit consumers as well as underwriters. C88 can use its volume to create pricing efficiency for their customers. That volume also reduces the overall cost of acquisition for underwriters. Prior to the emergence of financial services e-commerce, banks and insurers basically only had two options for sales in the large markets of Southeast Asia: branches or physical agents. Digital sales through C88’s platform provides a highly cost-effective alternative.
challenges
Southeast Asia remains highly fragmented. Operating a multi-jurisdictional structure that is attractive to both consumers and providers, while keeping national regulators on-side, is challenging.
The company also faces the challenge of creating a common culture across national teams. Incentivising teams in different verticals and across countries to work together to solve problems creatively is an ever-evolving process of creative leadership and problem solving.
J.P adds that fortunately, C88’s team are multi-lingual and truly love what they do. It is not at all uncommon for them to log long hours during the week and weekends, because they genuinely enjoy what they do in building systems and solving problems for consumers in the region.
working with Kindrik Partners
As well as advising C88 on its venture capital financing rounds, Kindrik Partners’s Lee Bagshaw and Chris Wilson have helped C88 implement a variety of business critical structures including inter-company, cross-border licensing agreements and intellectual property documentation.
J.P says that Kindrik Partners provided high-quality and competitively-priced legal services in the critical areas of C88’s business. J.P. particularly appreciated the level of support he received when negotiating and completing the company’s recent Series B round led by Telstra Ventures – he says that the Kindrik Partners team know venture capital deals inside out, and made the negotiation of the financing documentation a breeze.
Kindrik Partners looks forward to helping C88 to continue its journey to become a leading fintech player in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Explore C88.
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
