By DASHVEENJIT KAUR / Pic By storehub.com

MALAYSIA-BASED retail solutions start-up StoreHub Sdn Bhd has raised RM36.9 million from its second round of funding, to be used to strengthen and expand the company’s presence locally and abroad.

The latest round of funding was led by Vertex Ventures Holdings Ltd — an early investor in Asian tech giants including Grab Holdings Inc, PatSnap Pte Ltd and FirstCry — with participation from Accord Ventures Inc and a private family office.

The investment places StoreHub on “the path of aggressive growth” as it continues to expand its reach, the technology company said in a statement yesterday.

“StoreHub will also use the injection of funds to strengthen its presence in its core markets of Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. With over 40 open job positions, StoreHub has ambitious plans to double the size of its team this year,” it added.

The platform enables restaurant and retail entrepreneurs to automate the growth of their revenue and customer base, as well as their entire operations.

Since its RM20.2 million Series A funding in early 2018, the startup has increased the reach of its omnichannel operating system for brick-and-mortar businesses from 3,000 to 13,000 stores in South-East Asia, while increasing transactions from RM1.1 billion to RM5 billion.

In addition to Vertex Ventures, whose parent is Singaporean sove-reign fund group Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, Malaysia’s Cradle Seed Ventures, Accord Ventures and Fintonia Group also participated in the Series A funding round.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve delivered hundreds of improvements to our product and have launched three big modules that enable our customers to automate consumer acquisition and engagement,” StoreHub founder and CEO Fong Wai Hong said.

The group is working on more initiatives which will be announced over the next 12 months, he added.

For now, the retail scene in South-East Asia is experiencing a “massive shift” driven primarily by technology.

“As consumers now all have smartphones in their hands, they are becoming more informed and have higher expectations of deli-very times and service standards.

“What we’re seeing is businesses that are thriving are embracing technology to automate the management and growth of their stores, while those that don’t are struggling to cope with the drastic changes in consumer behaviour,” Fong said.

StoreHub’s regional team comprises 325 people located in multiple offices across Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila and Shanghai.

Founded in 2013 as an all-in-one tablet-based point of sale (PoS) system, StoreHub now offers small and medium enterprises a cloud-based iPad PoS system, intelligent inventory management, customer relationship management, quick response table orde-ring systems, an e-commerce platform and business analytics.

Subscription fees start from RM59 per month for the “Lite” version of the system. StoreHub was co-founded by Fong, who is based in Malaysia, and Congyu Li who also serves as the group’s CTO.