Myanmar online job portal JobNet.com.mm gets seven-digit Series A

By Juliet Shwe Gaung

May 22, 2017

JobNet.com.mm, a Myanmar-focused jobs website, has secured a seven-digit Series A investment led by institutional investors with strong experience in developing successful online classifieds businesses worldwide, according to the company announcement on May 21.

The investment comes over two months after ShweProperty.com received a six-digit sum from some institutional investors. Incidentally Justin Sway, CEO of JobNet.com.mm, also leads ShweProperty.com.

Both JobNet.com.mm and ShweProperty.com fall under the venture umbrella of MMOne Online Co Ltd in which Sway owns majority.

“We are very pleased with the latest round of funding. It will help us to further accelerate our strategy as the number one jobs and online employment portal in Myanmar,” said Matt De Luca, managing director of JobNet Myanmar.

JobNet Myanmar started out with a seed funding in January 2013 through Sway’s own financing. In May 2015, it scooped up a second round of funding led by Sway and Jonah Levey, founder of Vietnamworks.com, a leading job site in Vietnam.

Prior to leading MMOne Online, Sway founded FastTrack, a leading provider of integrated platform for recruitment, payroll, billing and finance for the staffing industry in Australia and New Zealand. He exited the firm in 2014 for about $24 million.

JobNet Myanmar claims to attract over 400,000 visits generating around 45,000 plus job applications a month. Its sister company, ShweProperty.com, claims to have attracted 700,000 visitors in a month last year.

The list of employers who access their platform include Ooredoo, MPT, UniLever, Capital Diamond Star Group, KBZ Bank and Manpower Group.

“We are delighted to welcome our new investors; it’s a real testament to the phenomenal traction and results we have achieved. Our new investors bring a wealth of knowledge and IP, with a proven track record in building successful online job portal businesses globally. This, combined with our strong, local and numerous years of business experience, will further accelerate JobNet as the number one player in the job portal space in Myanmar,” said Sway.

In a previous interview with DEALSTREETASIA, Sway had said, amidst the huge opportunity in the Internet led businesses, the key is whether the businesses can scale.

Myanmar has seen a surge interest from users and investors in online classified businesses since better Internet connections picked up post 2014. Rocket Internet has made a number of investments in such portals including work.com.mm, house.com.mm, motors.com.mm. Malaysia’s Frontier Digital Ventures has made investments in CarsDB and iMyanmarHouse.com.

Also Read:

Myanmar: ShweProperty.com bags ‘six-digit series A funding’ for expansion

Frontier Digital Ventures enters Myanmar with two deals

Rocket Internet to expand ops, increase team size in Myanmar

 

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

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  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW