Thai startup Beam raises US$2.5 mil seed funding

• Funds to expand services across SEA, hiring talent
• Claims to have boosted checkout success rates by up to 30%

Beam, a one-click checkout solution that enables frictionless payment, announced a US$2.5 million (RM11.3 million) in seed funding led by Surge, Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia’s rapid scale-up programme and Partech Partners.

In a statement, the startup said this new funds will enable it to expand its services in Thailand and across Southeast Asia. 

It will also go towards hiring and growing its merchant acquisition, it said.

Noting that e-commerce today is fast evolving beyond centralised marketplaces, the startup said social commerce, where shoppers transact with brands via online storefronts, as well as social media and messaging apps like Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp, accounted for nearly half of the region’s e-commerce market in 2021. 

Yet, there is no one-click solution to payments across all platforms, and the checkout process is fraught with friction, it claimed.

Beam said its checkout process for an online transaction takes just 20 seconds, which is four times faster than the global average. 

Spurred by its deep expertise and experience with shopping online in Thailand, Beam said its founders took a research-based approach to understand each friction point and created a smoother process. 

This  includes speeding up time-consuming steps such as filling out forms, entering personal information, and switching to banking apps and wallets to pay – all while managing the payment processing for sellers.

Win Vareekasem, co-founder and chief executive officer of Beam said the online checkout experience should be as easy as tapping a physical card for payment. 

“We want to help brands go direct-to-consumer and cultivate shopper loyalty, by greatly improving the online transaction experience and optimising platform fees.

“Shoppers should be able to shop wherever they want, and check out with just one click. We believe that these seamless journeys will help drive e-commerce and social commerce maturity among digital users in Southeast Asia even further,” said Vareekasem.

He added that with its new partners and funding, the firm aims to deepen its market penetration in the region and continuously drive new innovation in payments into the next decade.

For sellers and shoppers, the company said the result of Beam’s efficient checkout solution is a better user experience, leading to increased revenue and brand loyalty. 

The startup claimed that brands have boosted checkout success rates by up to 30%, and have benefited from greater cost savings as they only pay a low transaction fee. 

There are zero hidden costs from subscription and platform fees often associated with other e-commerce marketplaces, it said.