PouchNATION, an offline-to-online solutions firm for events and venues in Asia, has closed a Series B investment round to support its transition into a multi-faceted entertainment platform.
The funding round was led by Southeast Asia technology company Traveloka and Singapore Press Holdings Ventures.
The amount raised in this third round of funding has not been disclosed, though Crunchbase has suggested that the total raised thus far is around $4.5m (€5m/$5.7m) across the three rounds.
Hendrik Susanto, chief investment officer of Traveloka, said: “We were impressed with the progress they have achieved so far in disrupting the entertainment industry and are very proud to support the PouchNATION team to further evolve their product by leveraging the synergies with Traveloka’s key business, to provide an end-to-end solution for travel and lifestyle needs.”
PouchNATION, which launched in 2014 as a cashless payment wristband supplier for events, has evolved to become a solution for event organisers, theme parks and hospitality venues. It provides services that range from ticketing and registration, to access control and security, cashless payments, brand activations, data collection and insights, among others.
The firm, which operates in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, currently has two verticals PouchEVENTS and PouchVENUES. The company will soon be launching its third line of product, PouchDIGITAL, focusing on providing a more scalable and low-cost solution for event organisers with low budgets but high-volume events.
PouchNATION chief operating officer David Rapaport said: “We are very excited to launch our new vertical that will unlock a whole new segment of clients that currently still use very traditional methods to manage events and venues. Furthermore, by digitising more crowds and by collecting more consumer data, we are on a mission to attract more brand sponsorships to this industry and to eventually create a totally new user acquisition channel in the region.”
Its system currently handles on average over $5m in transaction value per month.
The firm’s chief executive Ilya Kravtsov said: “This investment deal augments PouchNATION’s position as the leader in its sector, but also builds the fundamentals for a broader vision.
“The company plans to transition from being just a service provider for events and venues to being a leading entertainment platform that connects hundreds of thousands of event-goers and attraction seekers across Asia with e-commerce giants, brands and other players seeking to get visibility and exposure among their target customers.”
Image: Frances Morgado
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