Anchanto, a Singapore-based B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) company specializing in ecommerce technology, recently announced that it received new investment totaling S$16.6 million as part of its expansion road map. Taking part in the funding round were Asendia, a joint-venture of the French National Post La Poste and state-run Swiss Post, and MDI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Indonesian telco firm Telkom Indonesia.
Vaibhav Dabhade, CEO and founder of Anchanto, said the company will use the funds to strengthen its research and development portfolio to launch two new products, build a data platform and expand to three more markets. Furthermore, he said Anchanto will also invest in hiring skilled talents to enhance and accelerate the launch of its new products into markets—especially with the demand for SaaS solutions on the rise. “Achieving profitability in these times is an excellent performance. I feel this is a more significant achievement than raising S$12 million dollars in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis. We are a capital-efficient company. A hundred percent of our revenue comes from SaaS subscription with a high gross margin; we do not buy inventory or run services shops or warehouses,” said Dabhade.
The fund-raising round also ushered in the start of Anchanto’s partnership with Asendia AG, a European cross-border ecommerce shipping and mail services giant, as a new shareholder. Asendia is the fourth customer to turn into a shareholder after MDI (Telkom Indonesia), Transcosmos Japan, and Luxasia. MDI Ventures, a corporate venture capital initiative by Telkom Indonesia, increased its stake further by adding to their existing investment. Marc Pontet, CEO of Asendia, and Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures, will be joining Anchanto’s board.
“Asendia intends to continue its journey along the cross-border ecommerce value chain and support the growth of an innovative technology company serving the international growth of global brands. We have high hopes for further cooperation with Anchanto, and we expect that we are going to create additional growth and synergies for the company thanks to our logistics and technology capabilities.” said Marc Pontet, CEO of Asendia.
“We are pleased to have Asendia invest into Anchanto’s vision. Asendia Singapore’s cross-border ecommerce operations have been running on Anchanto Wareo and SelluSeller platform for over two years now. Asendia owns 100 percent of Direct—which happens to be our customer for over six years. We see investment from Asendia as our gateway to European markets. Seventy percent-plus of investment in Anchanto has been from our customers, which is a great testimony of how powerful and stable our platforms are, and the trust global companies have in us,” Vaibhav added.
“In the current digitalization era, the necessity of multiple retailers and brands to go the omnichannel path is highly critical, especially with the current pandemic where the shift to online sales is inevitable. Anchanto’s robust platforms are well-positioned to highly capitalize on this ‘new normal’ to tackle massive problems that are not only faced in Indonesia but also globally,” said Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures.