Lifestyle social commerce platform Poptron secures US$1mil seed funding

• Funding to be used to develop version 2,0, expand team, begin Singapore ops
• Aims to capture US$1.6 billion of market share with 600K microbrands

Poptron, a Malaysia-headquartered lifestyle social commerce platform, has announced a US$1 million (RM4 million) funding from a NASDAQ listed company.

[Ed: An earlier version gave the conversion into Malaysian Ringgit.]

This strategic investment will enable Poptron to scale its operations and technology toward being a key regional social commerce platform. Poptron is planning to fundraise a further US$375,000 (RM1.5 million) on pitchIN, an equity crowdfunding platform, in Q1 2021.

These investments will be used to develop the platform’s version 2.0, expected to be up in January 2021, as well as expand the team and begin operations in Singapore by Q1 2021.

The curated e-commerce site was launched on 4th September 2020 to offer microbrands selling high quality, natural and eco-friendly products or artisanal goods a platform to connect with like-minded global users. 

Over 100 microbrands with more than 700 different types of product listings have since come on board, ranging from personal care, fashion items, arts and crafts, to pets necessities and home and living products.

Poptron helps sellers overcome key pain points in customer acquisition, business management and regional growth by using a single platform to handle everything from enquiries to shipping. Users will also be able to discover, follow and shop through a practical and intuitive user interface while tracking each delivery straight to their doorstep.

“Before the movement control order (MCO), I used to frequent local arts bazaars and discovered a lot of interesting, high-quality products from small brands and businesses. Due to the pandemic, bazaars came to a halt, so these brands are depending on online sales, usually gathered from various social media platforms like Facebook & Instagram,” explains Poptron founder Brian Johnson Lowe (pic).

“Online demand generation became a critical area of focus, and it became quite evident that securing new customers online isn't as easy as it seems,” he says.

According to Lowe, there are almost 2.2 million microbrands globally in 2020, with the Total Available Market of US$7.6 billion. Out of this, the Serviceable Available Market for Poptron is worth US$3.8 billion, which counts for 1.5 million out of the expected 3.79 million global microbrand market in 2025.

Poptron aims to capture US$1.6 billion of the market share with 600,000 microbrands generating Poptron’s global revenue in 2025.

"With Poptron, we hope to gather all these brands in one place for consumers to discover, our idea is to prove the value of this unique platform and increase the business returns of our merchants first,” adds Lowe.

“Being able to make the strides that we have during the course of this year is a testament to the drive and passion of the team. We are also greatly appreciative of the support we have received from our investor and our legal advisers, Shin Associates.”