The WhyQ workforce
WhyQ, a digital innovation startup targeted on serving to micro-SMEs digitise their companies, has secured a further RM4.6 million (US$1.1 million) in a Collection A2 extension spherical.
Kairos FoodTech Fund of Kairos Capital Group led this spherical. The preliminary Collection A2 spherical of RM11.8 million (US$2.7 million) closed in 2021 and included Supply Hero, Chope, Angel Central, and RB Investments.
Kairos Capital beforehand invested in Good Meat, Roslin Applied sciences and Mission Barns.
With this extra funding, WhyQ plans to increase its digitalisation platform and help the expansion of small companies in Singapore and Malaysia. It is going to additionally enhance its present merchandise and develop new ones.
“Collaborating closely with hawkers in Singapore for the past five years has allowed us to understand the challenges that small business owners face regarding digitalisation. Leveraging on our experience partnering with small-scale F&B owner-operators like hawkers, we would like to extend our expertise to help small business owners in Malaysia digitalise properly, with simple and free products,” mentioned Varun Saraf, CEO and Co-Founding father of WhyQ.
WhyQ began as a hawker meals supply service in 2017 and have become an MSME-focused meals supply platform in Singapore. The agency has since added merchandise to construct digital infrastructure, enabling MSMEs to promote and develop their enterprise on-line. It gives two free merchandise: an eBiz app EBiz and a digital bookkeeping app Kira Kira.
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EBiz allows MSMEs to create their very own on-line storefronts, join with common marketplaces, similar to Foodpanda, settle for on-line funds, and join with logistics providers like Lalamove inside 60 seconds. This makes it straightforward for MSMEs to arrange a digital presence shortly and simply and begin promoting on-line.
Kira Kira, then again, permits small companies to trace their day by day transactions, handle their accounts, and apply for low-interest loans from companions similar to Funding Societies. This makes it straightforward for companies to remain on high of their funds and entry the funding they should develop.
WhyQ at the moment powers over 20,000 small companies in Singapore and Malaysia.
“SMEs are the economic backbone of Southeast Asia, accounting for more than 90 per cent of all companies and are the primary drivers of social mobility. The pandemic has increased demand for more adoption and integration of digital technology among SMEs. However, many SMEs face numerous barriers to adopting technology at a critical time of need. WhyQ is well positioned to help SMEs with their digitalisation challenges by providing the digital infrastructure and tools to close the digital divide for merchants in SEA,” mentioned Eric Cheong, Co-Founder and Managing Companion of Kairos Capital.
As a part of its deliberate venture trajectory in 2023, WhyQ plans so as to add extra options to the eBiz app, similar to customisable templates for on-line storefronts and integrations with common e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada. It additionally plans to companion with extra logistics suppliers and fee gateways to present small companies much more choices for fulfilling orders and accepting funds.
Moreover, it plans to boost its digital bookkeeping app with new options, similar to automated gross sales & expense categorisations, stock administration, and invoice funds. It is going to additionally proceed to increase its community of lending companions to offer extra choices for small companies in search of low-interest and fast loans.
WhyQ will even strengthen the digital fee infrastructure for MSMEs by providing a variety of fee options that resolve the wants of retailers as they go digital.
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