Singapore-based media company E27 has closed a SG$3 million (US$2.2 million) Series A round as it looks to redevelop its tech-focused news website and events business following some tough times.
The company previously raised seed rounds, the most recent being a $650,000 raise last summer, and there had been talk of new financing for the past month or so. Now the company has confirmed its raise from a bevy of new investors each of whom is involved in early-stage tech. The round was led by China-based TechTemple Group with participation from Linear Venture (also China), Indonesia’s Convergence Ventures and Singapore-based duo Venturecraft and venture builder Spacemob.
E27 is best known in Southeast Asia for its news site — e27.co — and its long-running Echelon events business. First founded in 2007, it has endured a rough past year which included making layoffs and general restructuring. With new money in the bank, though, E27 CEO and co-founder Mohan Belani plans to make new hires across the company to grow the editorial and events teams, as well as strengthen newer businesses which include a job listings service, Crunchbase-style database and ‘marketplace’ where third-parties offer bundled deals.
“The objective here is to be an ecosystem player not just media,” he told me in a phone interview. “Media was our first foray but we realized that, as the company grows, challenges evolve. Our database and marketplace come together to serve the greater community — pair them with events, and you get a nice online-to-offine mix.”
Belani said that E27 will work with its new investors in a fairly direct manner. He hinted that could mean events in China in sync with TechTemple Group, which provides a range of services to help startups including co-working spaces and incubation services, or Convergence Ventures, which is focused on early-stage investments in Indonesia. Likewise, the other investors have a dedicated early-stage presence which could also mean more potential for tie-ins.
“A lot of the focus will go to events and online, we’re looking at being more heavily focused on the Southeast Asia market [because it is] the area we know best and work we know best,” Belani added, noting that the tech communities in China and India are increasingly looking at Southeast Asia’s potential.
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Tech In Asia is E27’s big rival in terms of editorial and the events business. Tech In Asia has raised nearly $7 million to date, including a $4 million round last year, and it has more than 70 staff working on its business, which also includes Techlist, another Crunchbase-esque analytics service for Asia which graduated Y Combinator. Those two aside, other blogs that focus on tech news across Southeast Asia include Digital News Asia and Deal Street Asia.
