Intrepid Group Secures Series B Funds for SMEs on Lazada & Shopee

Intrepid Group, a Singapore-based e-commerce services provider, has raised an undisclosed sum in pre-Series B funds, co-led by SGX-listed Thakral Corporation, and existing investor Sun SEA Capital.

This round comes less than 10 months after the company received Series A funding led by Kairous Capital.

Founded by co-founders of Lazada, Intrepid Group offers both enterprise-grade SaaS and end-to-end e-commerce management to brands and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate their growth on platforms such as Lazada and Shopee.

The firm claims its monthly revenue grew four times year-on-year with a rapid expansion of its geographical footprint across Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and more recently Malaysia.

Currently, it is serving more than 50 brands across the region (including HP, 3M, Colgate, P&G, Kiehl's, Luxottica & Xiaomi).

In Q2 2020, Intrepid launched the latest version of its multi-channel management SaaS product ‘PowerSell'. The software is now used by close to 10,000 brands and SMEs with almost one million orders processed every week, it further claimed.

“With COVID-19, businesses have come to the conclusion that digitisation is no longer a nice-to-have but an absolute must. For the retail industry, e-commerce has become a top priority — both for international brands and SMEs. We are convinced we have a big role to play in this shift – both via our e-commerce services for brands and via our SaaS PowerSell,” said Charles Debonneuil, CEO of Intrepid Group and former CMO and Co-founder of Lazada Group.

Thakral's Group CEO and Executive Director, Inderbethal Singh Thakral, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the enormous growth potential for e-commerce in Asia. Southeast Asian e-commerce, while still small relative to China, is growing very fast: according to a 2019 Google Temasek study, Southeast Asian e-commerce volumes have multiplied by 10 between 2015 and today, and are expected to more than triple again by 2025, which will offer significant business opportunities.”

Thakral's core business comprises a real estate investment portfolio in Australia, Japan and Singapore. Its other investments include the management and marketing of leading beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands in China, Southeast Asia and India. It also operates an e-commerce retail platform for at-home beauty devices in China.

Last week, Indonesian e-commerce enabler SIRCLO closed a US$6 million Series B funding from a host of investors, including East Ventures, OCBC NISP Ventura, Skystar Capital, Sinar Mas Land.