RPG Commerce secures undisclosed Series A funding round

• Direct-to-consumer ecommerce startup launches, incubates & acquires own native brands
• Appoints former Uber Singapore Malaysia general manager Warren Tseng as COO

DIRECT-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce company RPG Commerce announced that it has secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding round, led by Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, a Singapore-based capital investment holding company, and Joseph Phua, co-founder and chairman of 17 Live.

The company descibes itself as a multi-brand DTC company that launches and operates a suite of DTC brands via a “shared backend infrastructure” approach, it said in a statement.

RPG Commerce primarily launches and incubates its own native brands in tandem to acquiring brands, as opposed to the practice of seeking to “roll-up” small e-commerce brands purely via brand acquisitions, and selling on other e-commerce platforms.

Using a more capital and cost-efficient approach, RPG Commerce claimed that it is able to develop, test and launch a brand with a lot less capital and scale each brand quickly.

To date, it said it has launched over 10 brands globally in different categories such as men’s fashion, home and living, and fashion accessories.

Many of these brands, RPG Commerce claimed, are already generating multi-million-dollar revenues annually.

“This new-normal created by societal reaction to the pandemic has accelerated the entire ecommerce industry and never been a more favourable period for DTC brands to rise,” said Melvin Chee, co-founder of RPG Commerce.

“Having direct access to our customers gives us a strategic advantage and better understanding of their needs, armed with our agile operations that continuously enhance our products based on our customers’ feedback.”

The company noted that its products are present in over 40 countries, with current main markets being the USA, Europe, Australia and Asia.  The company is incorporated in Singapore, with its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The funds raised this round will be used to accelerate the growth of more brands and further RPG Commerce’s expansion globally.

The company claims to have experienced “explosive” growth in 2020, quadrupling its headcount to over 100 and is hiring more talent in brand management, operations and tech. 

It will continue to enhance the supply chain management, its predictive demand-testing algorithms and proprietary marketing platform, it added.

RPG Commerce also announced the appointment of Warren Tseng as the company’s new chief operating officer (COO). He will be tasked with leading the operation of the business and championing the strategic direction in alignment with the company’s development.

Tseng was previously general manager of ride-hailing company Uber for Singapore and Malaysia, and helmed the Asia Pacific market as regional general manager at Cloud Kitchen, a startup venture by Travis Kalanick, the co-founder and former CEO of Uber.