SoftBank Ventures Korea and others invest $51 million in Vietnam E-commerce site Sendo

HO CHI MINH CITY,Vietnam,Aug. 16,2018 --Sen Do Technology JSC (Sendo),the #1 Vietnamese C2C marketplace,today announced that it has secured an investment of USD 51 million led by the SBI Group from Japan for Series B round,having SoftBank Ventures Korea,Daiwa PI Partners,and SKS Ventures as new investors. The funding round from investors in Japan,Korea,and Taiwan was participated by all the existing investors,including SBI Group,FPT Group,eContext Asia,BEENEXT,and BEENOS.

Sendo Technology's online marketplace has benefited from explosive growth in Vietnam's e-commerce market

Nguyen Dac Viet Dung,Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Sendo,said: "The funding would help the company to expand the C2C platform Sendo,launch the B2C marketplace SenMall,and making SenPay the leading fintech platform in Vietnam. Our ultimate goal is to continue to support hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese sellers to prosper,and along the way help creating millions of jobs for the Vietnamese people. Having achieved the annualized GMV of 330 million USD,the company is on track to surpass USD 1 billion of GMV in 2020."

Daniel Kang,Partner and Managing Director of SoftBank Ventures Korea,said: "Vietnam is at its inflection point,bolstered by rapid GDP growth,young population and willingness to adopt technology.Against this backdrop,Vietnam's e-commerce has strong growth potential and we believe Sendo's marketplace model will benefit from the environments the most."

In a fast-growing e-commerce market,Sendo has differentiated itself by focusing on not only Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City but also the untapped Tier 2 cities population,where 70 million Vietnamese people live. Being a homegrown company also allows the company to have deep understanding of the Vietnamese local market and culture. Sendo currently serves more than 300,000 sellers and millions of buyers in all 63 provinces in Vietnam. To achieve its fast growth,Sendo focuses on utilizing the strength of partners in the ecosystem,such as merchants,third-party logistics,and advertising companies. The company also provides SenPay,a Mobile Wallet Service and Fintech solution on Sendo Platform as well as the off-line world.

Introduction of Sendo:

Launched in March 2012,Sendo is the #1 C2C marketplace in Vietnam,offering more than 10 million of products on its platform. This is also the first e-commerce marketplace combined with logistics providers and banks to provide customers with a full package of guaranteed transaction. In 2016,Sendo's fintech subsidiary Fpt Wallet,which operates Senpay,received e-payment licensed from the State Bank of Vietnam.

Introduction of SoftBank Ventures Korea

Established in year 2000,SoftBank Ventures Korea is the only global early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group based inSeoul,Korea. SoftBank Ventures Korea invests in start-ups with a strong potential in Asia,the U.S.,Israel,and the EU,focusing on AI,IoT,and smart robotics industry. To date,Softbank Ventures Korea has invested US$600million across230start-up companies.

Introductions of Daiwa PI Partners

Daiwa PI Partners is an entity of Daiwa Securities Group which engages in the principle investment business. Since its establishment starting out as a player in the debt investment field in 1998,Daiwa PI Partners has been broadly expanding its business,which now extends not only to debt investment but private equity and energy investment as well. It now engages in various investments worldwide,i.e.,in Japan,and other Asian countries,U.K.,and Australia.

Contact: Ms Nguyen Ho Huyen Trinh - Marketing Director email: trinhnhh@sendo.vn,phone: +84 (028) 73001188

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180816/2213865-1