Taiwan-based instant booking app FunNow has acquired Malaysia’s online restaurant reservation provider Tableapp; while online marketplace Secai Marche has secured $1 million from Beyond Next Ventures, Monex Ventures, and others.
Taiwan’s FunNow acquires Malaysia’s Tableapp
Taiwan-based on-demand instant lifestyle booking app FunNow has acquired Malaysia’s online restaurant reservations provider Tableapp for an undisclosed sum comprising cash and shares.
“Now with Tableapp, we are set to become the largest reservation platform in Malaysia,” said FunNow founding partner and head of Southeast Asia Philip Ting in a statement on Wednesday.
FunNow is a reservation platform for various entertainment and leisure venues, including lounge bars, bistros, spas, and beauty centres in various cities in Asia. It counts Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund and CSV Venture Fund as strategic investors. The latter is jointly managed by Japan’s NEC Capital Solutions and Venture Labo Investment.
Tableapp is a Malaysian startup providing restaurant reservation and table management tools. Since its establishment in 2013, Tableapp has seated over 6.3 million diners.
“The combined entity enables restaurants to sell their empty tables at the last minute while, concurrently, attracting a bigger user base to capitalise on discounts and offers,” Tableapp founder and CEO Benson Chang said. “The combined platform also helps eliminate no-shows for restaurants while also providing deals for diners.”
Chang will join FunNow as Malaysia director and head the operations of the combined platform in Malaysia.
The acquisition will result in Tableapp’s current investors, including SEA Unicorn, global venture capital firm 500 Startups, and Singapore-based venture capital firm Crystal Horse Investments together with Tableapp’s core team led by Chang, becoming shareholders of FunNow.
Secai Marche secures $1 million
Secai Marche, an online marketplace connecting farmers to restaurants, has secured $1 million in a funding round from Japanese VC firms Beyond Next Ventures and Monex Ventures and unnamed angel investors, news portal e27 reported on Wednesday.
Secai Marche CEO Ami Sugiyama said that the startup will use the funding — which was closed in December 2019 — to expand its operations to Singapore next year, followed by Indonesia and Thailand, aiming to be the Amazon for fresh farm produce in the Asean region.
Founded by Sugiyama and Shusaku Hayakawa, Secai Marche is a platform for restaurants to purchase high-quality products directly from farmers. The platform aims to help build more economically-viable and sustainable small-scale farms around the world through improved access to quality and delicious food.
According to the report, Secai Marche is currently in talks for a Series A round of funding. “We expect to raise the new round by December-January,” Sugiyama was quoted as saying.
Located in Tokyo, Japan, and Malaysia, the platform sources ingredients from farms in Southeast Asia and Japan.
