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Sendo, a consumer-to-consumer e-commerce marketplace headquartered in Vietnam has raised US$61M in Series C round. Some of the major backers are SBI Group, Beenos, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Daiwa PI Partners, and Digital Garage, along with new investors including EV Growth and Thailand’s Kasikornbank.
“The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its integrated platform offering for both sellers and consumers and invest in AI and machine learning to enhance customer experience,” said Sendo CEO and co-founder Hai Linh Tran.
“Sendo’s integrated ecosystem spanning marketplace, advertising, logistics, and financial services is designed to ensure that, and that goes well with our monetization strategy into multiple revenue streams and ultimately, our path to profitability,” he added.
Last year, Sendo raised US$51M in the Series B round from the Japanese financial services giant SBI group in August 2018.
Sendo focuses on the untapped tier two cities in Vietnam which are home to 70 million people and it is definitely a great strategy considering the increasing purchasing power and penetration of technology and e-commerce in the tier two cities. Some of Sendo’s competitors are Tiki, Lazada and Shopee.
The company offers clothing, homeware, cosmetics, tech accessories, and more. Sendo helps online shoppers find daily deals, promotions, and handbooks with product listings in the categories of women’s fashion, men’s fashion, mother and baby, homeware, food, cosmetics, tech accessories, and sports and entertainment. Sendo is currently the second largest e-commerce site in Vietnam behind the market leader Lazada, a Chinese-owned company.
Sendo has already achieved its annualized gross merchandise value (GMV) target of US$1 billion earlier than expected. However, it remains focused on sustainable GMV growth through consumer stickiness.
The focus is to drive sales, improve productivity, and ensure customer satisfaction.
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