Singapore’s The GrowHub announces first close of $3M pre-series B round
The GrowHub, a Singapore-based trust and traceability technology provider for the supply chain, announced Thursday that it has closed a $3 million Pre-Series B round from a number of strategic individual investors including the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder Lester Chan.
The fresh funds will be used to continue to build The GrowHub’s technology offerings and strengthen its technology capabilities as it further expands across the Asia Pacific region, The GrowHub said in a statement.
The GrowHub began as a farm-to-table solutions provider and a strategic export partner of premium goods from producers looking to reach new audiences in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Over the years, it has shifted its technology focus to enable producers and consumers to track, market and understand consumer behavior and patterns using the company’s proprietary Web-3, NFC and QR code solutions.
Consumers across Asia Pacific are able to interact with these products in their native language, understand products more intimately and engage with relevant advertisements.
In a short span of time, it has transformed the supply chain experience for both businesses and shoppers in countries like Singapore, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia by incorporating authenticity and traceability.
In addition to tracking the footprint of food from producer to consumer, The GrowHub also facilitates transparency and reliability in tracing carbon credits with its software as a service (SaaS) platform.
The company allows producers, funders and regulators to differentiate and authenticate carbon footprint at source, with initial use cases deployed around soil carbon market integrations.
The GrowHub focuses on the flow and user experience between the network of retailers, distributors, producers, and end-consumers in a fast, secure, credible, and accessible manner.
“We are always looking for ways to adapt and tailor our offerings in the market according to producers’ and customer’s needs, with a view of mitigating global trust problems around food production, supply chains, and carbon traceability,” said Chan.
With the deeper enhancements to the group’s technology framework, he is confident in its abilities to value-aid in the holistic supply chain landscape.
According to him, the firm has taken the Web 3.0 approach differently in its business operations while adhering to the fundamentals of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
By re-innovating traditional processes, he looks forward to providing consumers with elevated supply chain experiences.
“We are delighted to receive an initial close of our Pre-Series B round to continue building the dream of a more transparent world, where consumers can trust what they see on a label, and where food waste is minimised,” he added.
The GrowHub’s proprietary blockchain technology has secured all products that have been onboarded in the company’s portfolio, including leading brands like ManukaLife Honey, tangobar, Dirty Clean Food Oatmilk, Koufuku Granola.
To date, it has reached hundreds of thousands of user interactions per month growing at 20 percent.
The GrowHub closed 2022 with an estimated revenue of $750,000 and is expected to grow this figure by four times by the end of its fiscal year.
To support this, the company has made key appointments in its leadership team.
It has announced the official appointment of Chai Chun Kiat as Chief Technology Officer and Aaron Loo Jian Lin as Chief Innovation Officer along with Sam Yen Rong Jiun who will be joining The GrowHub’s advisory board.
“As consumers become more conscious of the source and impact of their purchases, the role of technology such as Web3 and AI in enabling transparency and traceability will become increasingly crucial for both consumers and producers,” said Chai.
Last month, The GrowHub and the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia (FIPWA) officially opened its faculty hub which will serve as a research and development site, business accelerator, and commercialization platform for agritech businesses.
In 2022, The GrowHub announced that it signed a lease to take over the tenancy of the hub to establish the GrowHub Innovation Center and data hub to offer a direct pathway for Asia Pacific players to implement their solutions.
Moving forward, the company aims to offer wider access to trusted premium products at affordable cost through the
development of new emerging technologies at FIPWA’s hub.
The GrowHub has seen tremendous growth in the past year following its successful SaaS technology initiatives.
Since its operational launch, the company aims to partner with leading companies in the region and add to its ecosystem network to make emerging technologies available regardless of size.