Startup Evo raises US$600K in seed funding led by East Ventures

• Funds will be channeled towards expanding product offerings, R&D
• Carro, Shopback, Prism+ and Spenmo participated in this round

Direct-to-consumer startup Evo has announced the completion of its US$600,000 seed funding round led by East Ventures, with notable angel investors Aaron Tan from Carro, Joel Leong from ShopBack, Mohandass from Spenmo, and Jonathan Tan from Prism+, participating in this round. 

In a statement, the Singapore-based startup said the funds raised will be channeled towards expanding the brand’s product offerings and doubling down on research and development of new product categories to explore new distribution channels in the DTC sector.

Founded in 2020 by former Grab Executives Roy Ang (pic), who is the co-founder and chief executive office (CEO) and Teoh Ming Hao, who is the co-founder and chief operating officer, the startup is a DTC health and wellness firm that offers quality supplements and hair products. 

The brand has over eight different products to its name, including its flagship product BounceBack, a livercare and anti-hangover supplement. 

Pivoting from live commerce software to DTC, the company claims to have seen 700% growth in the last five months and is now operating in ten markets globally.

Ang said he believes that Covid-19 has drastically sped up e-commerce purchase patterns globally. 

“We aim to be the new age digital native brand that serves customers within the health and wellness category, with better branding, better product content and affordable pricing by removing the middleman in the mix,” he said.

Besides its flagship product Bounceback, the company said it also runs their anti-hair loss brand mantou and they are also launching other supplement categories to tackle sleep, hair health and immunity supplements under the stryv brand.

Evo’s co-founders were part of the early team members within Grab Financial Group, where they built GrabPay and other payment products regionally, the company said.

Prior to joining Grab, Ang and Teoh both held management positions within e27 and Tech in Asia.

The company claimed that it broke even in June this year, and is aiming to hit eight digit annualised revenue by the end of the year. 

It is also looking to raise another US$500,000 (RM2.2 million) in Q3 of 2022.

Devina Halim, principal at East Ventures said “We have witnessed Evo’s adeptness and stealth in adapting to the evolving customers’ needs within the health and beauty sector.

“We believe that the funding will help Evo to further expand their presence regionally and continue to provide the best products that cater to customers’ needs.”

East Ventures is one of the first and largest multi stage venture capital firms in Southeast Asia, with notable investments in multiple unicorns like Tokopedia, Traveloka, Carro, Xendit, Shopback, Mercari, among others.