Offpeak raises funds from Japan’s YJ Capital

• Plans to deepen roots into SEA, improve product offering
• Has local language sites in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia

 

OFFPEAK, a Malaysia-based restaurant discovery and dining privileges startup with operations across South-East Asia (SEA), today announced the completion of a strategic investment from YJ Capital (Corporate venture capital of Yahoo Japan) with existing investor Gobi Partners also contributing to the round. This marks YJ Capital's first lead investment in a Malaysian company. The amount is undisclosed.
 
Since launching in 2014, Offpeak has successfully expanded its footprint into Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam from its base operations in Malaysia. As of September 2016, Offpeak is seating one diner every 40 seconds at its restaurant and dining partners. The company is now partnered with over 2,600 restaurants, up from 600 in June 2015.
 
To further its reach with restaurants and customers, Offpeak has undertaken localization efforts
for the Malaysian market with the launching of Syokmakan, Offpeak’s Bahasa language portal. The company also completed a strategic partnership with Supply Bunny, an online platform connecting F&B suppliers and restaurateurs, to provide value-added services for restaurants.
 
Offpeak is led by Tan Ban Eu, Lau Ngee Keong, Christian Nguyen and Tan Ee Ern, four seasoned entrepreneurs with a combined 55 years of experience in the tech and ecommerce sectors.
 
In the coming months, Offpeak plans to deepen its roots in SEA market. Their last 24 months in the market as well as the expertise that YJ Capital brings has given them invaluable insights to make changes that will improve the product offer to the market.
 
“We see great potential in F&B marketplace. Moreover, the roll-out and growth rate of Offpeak in SEA is commendable and impressive”, said Shinichiro Hori (pic), COO of YJ Capital, “We expect Offpeak to continue this momentum for the future, too.”
 
According to Thomas Tsao, of Gobi, “As the first investment out of Gobi's second ASEAN fund, we have been impressed by the professionalism, management and execution capabilities of the Offpeak team. We are very proud of their progress over the past year and look forward to Offpeak's continued momentum with the inclusion of YJ Capital as a backer.
 
“We are excited that YJ Capital is coming onboard with Gobi Partners. In addition to the
investment – which will be for customer acquisition, feature enhancement and expansion –their knowledge and expertise in the F&B O2O space will be invaluable for our growth. With this, we believe that their support will allow us to leapfrog our business plans,” said Tan Ban Eu, cofounder and Director of Offpeak.
 
With existing investment in F&B players that have become very mature in the Japanese market, Tan adds that YJ Capital understand their trajectory, stage of growth and lessons learnt on what works and what didn’t work. “These insights will be invaluable to us as we navigate our way towards our own path to maturity in the next 5 to 10 years.”
 
Offpeak is headquartered in Malaysia with regional presence in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Prior to YJ Capital’s investment, Offpeak received the CIP 500 grant from Cradle Fund and an investment from Gobi Partners in July 2015.