Malaysia-based food delivery startup dahmakan is in the midst of closing its Series A funding round, a few months after raising a $2.6-million pre-Series A round in January this year.
Dahmakan co-founder and CEO Jonathan Weins told DEALSTREETASIA on the sidelines of Wild Digital 2018 that the round will be closed within the third quarter of this year.
He declined to share further details of the financing round but said that the figure to be raised lies between a typical Series A and Series B round. The capital infusion is expected to sustain dahmakan’s operations for the next 15 months before the startup raises another round.
Series A rounds in Southeast Asia tend to range from $3 million to $5 million while Series B rounds can start upwards of $5 million and go up to $20-25 million.
Dahmakan had raised the pre-Series A round this January from accelerator Y Combinator, Texas Atlantic Capital, Swiss family office Atami Capital and the former founder of APAX Partners.
The round was followed by the acquisition of Thailand’s food delivery startup Polpa in March. The deal marked dahmakan’s first regional expansion since its launch in 2015.
“We will also be expanding to Singapore by the end of this year, and next year we will be looking at Jakarta and Hong Kong,” said Weins, adding that the startup will not enter Singapore via an acquisition.
“We will be setting up new operations in Singapore. The acquisition in Bangkok is an exception for us. We’re always on the lookout for companies who want to be part of something bigger but we mainly look at building the team because we have invested a lot in our technology,” he added.
Weins likened the company’s approach to Uber, which spent time building its presence in San Francisco before expanding to other cities.
“For us, the acquisition was a matter of good timing and a unique opportunity to work with the Polpa team. Bangkok is a fast-growing market for us,” said Weins.
In the increasingly competitive food delivery space, Weins said dahmakan will continue to prepare in-house meals instead of being a delivery or logistics player.
“That will always be our strategy because that’s where we see we can have a fundamental value-add for our customers because we produce completely different food and make it much more affordable,” he said.
Also Read:
Malaysian food delivery startup dahmakan acquires Thai competitor Polpa
SE Asia turns new battleground for food delivery as ride-hailing apps step on gas
