SleekFlow secures 7-figure HKD pre-A round investment from Gobi Partners China: Expanding its reach and impact in Southeast Asia market
SleekFlow, a Cyberport incubatee, has recently raised a 7-figure HKD Pre-A round investment from Gobi Partners China (Gobi), the investment manager of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF).
The spread of COVID-19 has brought a wave of digitalization, particularly in tertiary industries like retail, beauty salons, education services, etc. To swiftly adapt to the dynamic environment and facilitate contactless marketing and customer service amid the pandemic, they depend upon various instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat. Within a year, SleekFlow, the all-in-one social messaging platform that helps SMEs in digital transformation, has won over 1000+ users across 20+ countries, hitting the target of annual recurring revenue of 7-digit USD.
“First, I would like to express my gratitude towards the Gobi for believing in SleekFlow. We raised this round to fund the expansion outside Hong Kong in the next six months. Aiming to scale its height in the Southeast Asia Market, SleekFlow will establish a new Southeast Asia headquarters in Singapore and set up sales teams in Malaysia and Indonesia, where people rely heavily on WhatsApp. Besides, we planned to recruit more developers and UXUI designers to join our Hong Kong team. More capital will conceivably be invested in marketing to establish the brand. Shortly, SleekFlow will partner up with local and international big names, creating new marketing, customer service, or business models.” Henson Tsai, the founder, and CEO of SleekFlow, stated.
Alice So, Head of Entrepreneurship at Cyberport, said, “The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in various sectors. Companies are keen on technology solutions to enhance their competitiveness. Cyberport is delighted to witness that our incubatee, SleekFlow, swiftly adapted to the changing economic environment and seized the opportunity. We are also pleased to see that this promising start-up is funded by the highly selective Gobi Partners China, the investment manager of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. We believe the demand for digital transformation will continue to grow, enabling technology start-ups to be the new favorites of investors. This will inject new impetus into the economy and bring satisfactory returns to investors.”
SleekFlow's journey from its founding until today
Just around a year ago, Henson approached different investors. However, the product and business model at that time were not mature enough to convince them. A year later, SleekFlow joined the JUMPSTARTER, through which the Gobi saw the potential in Henson and SleekFlow and contacted Henson afterwards.
At the very early stage of SleekFlow, the company’s total revenue was just about 30,000 HKD. It proliferated over the past two years and achieved annual recurring revenue of 7-digit USD today. Henson believes that start-ups have to be agile in business decisions. The first idea might not succeed right away, but that is a chance to understand the market. The feedback is valuable insights for people to fine-tune their products or strategy. Henson remarked that the tweak could be surprising. “Just like we attended those trade shows. We initially thought “A” was in demand, but it’s not. We have to be bold to change and be able to show a whole new thing on the next day.” Henson said.
This example well illustrated what Henson has been doing every day in the early stage.
“There are 8-10 Unicorns in Hong Kong and very few of them are selling SaaS products. I hope that SleekFlow can become a world-renowned Hong Kong SaaS brand. That’s why we planned to expand to Southeast Asia first and then to the world.” Henson added. “That is the vision of SleekFlow.”
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