KUALA LUMPUR: South-Eeast Asian startup KFit Holdings Pte Ltd expects to double its online-to-offline (O2O) commerce business in 2017 following the recent acquisitions of Groupon’s Malaysian and Indonesian operations, its founder said.
Backed by US venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and Malaysian telecommunications group Axiata Group, among others, KFit started as a fitness app last year but has increasingly embraced O2O commerce as its growth strategy.
It has ramped up lifestyle offerings such as food & beverage, spa and massage deals through its acquisitions of the Groupon operations in the latter half of 2016 for undisclosed sums.
The rising popularity of O2O services reflects the desires of a growing middle class in South-East Asia, “whose aspirations are to dine out and relax with friends”, KFit’s founder Joel Neoh said.
KFit has raised US$15.25mil in venture funds, of which about half has been utilised for expansion, Neoh said, adding that the group currently generates sales of more than RM100mil per year.
Malaysia and Indonesia, which together contribute more than 90% of KFit’s business, are where growth strategies will be predominantly focused on, said Neoh, who was formerly the head of Groupon Asia-Pacific. – Reuters
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