Vase.ai raises 7-figure ringgit amount in seed funding

• US fund, Indelible Ventures, leads round, with existing investors joining
• To expand to Indonesia in 2^nd half 2022 & accelerate platform’s AI strength

Vase Technologies Sdn Bhd (Vase.ai), a Malaysian consumer research technology company, founded in 2015, announced an undisclosed seven-figure ringgit investment to kick-start its expansion. The round was led by Indelible Ventures, along with existing investors, Suwatt Pathompakawan, ex-CEO of Skootar, a B2B logistics company in Thailand; Poshakrishna Thirapatana, CMO at Wisesight, a Thai-based Social Analytics Company and Chee Chiew Wong, Vice President at A.T. Kearney in Malaysia.

According to Julie Ng, co-founder and CEO of Vase.ai, the individuals came in as angels with US$80,000 (about RM335,000) in early 2019 thanks to the exposure from a corporate accelerator run by Digi Telecommunications, Digi-X.

Vase.ai is an AI-powered self-service platform that provides companies with fast and reliable insights into consumers, markets, brands, products via feedback from 2 million consumers across ASEAN in real-time. The database is a combination of a large proprietary database in Malaysia that it claims and working with partners when required. “Referral systems have proven to be one of the most effective ways for us to acquire our database,” Julie said. 

"The investment and support from a partner like Indelible Ventures will help us significantly as we enter a new phase of growth. We look forward to a long partnership with them as we continue our mission to make consumer and market insights more accessible to the millions of brands in ASEAN,” she said.

Kevin Brockland, Managing Partner, Indelible Ventures, said, "Vase.ai provides a high value-add solution in an exciting space that taps into the fact that consumer insights and habits are changing faster than ever before. They have the technology, know-how and a great track record in the region, so we know our investment will further accelerate their, already impressive, regional growth. We’re excited to be working with a strong founding team and look forward to seeing them grow the business even further.”

Julie launched Vase.ai with cofounders Asyrique Thevendran and Zhen Ng. Asyrique is the CTO.

[Ed: Para edited for accuracy.]

Jule tells DNA that Vase.ai will be expanding into Indonesia in the second half of the year  and enhancing the technology behind its platform. 

“We will expand our team with the recruitment of a Product Manager and Machine Learning engineers with data analysis, data visualization and machine learning skills.”

It currently has a headcount of 12 with Julie explaining that a large chunk of business processes are supported by technology and that allows the company to be effective and efficient.

With its mission of making human insights accessible to everyone instantly, Vase was built as an answer to more traditional market research firms that lack the flexibility and speed necessary for fast-growth and nimble businesses.

It harnesses its expertise in AI to produce high-quality market research at an affordable price and within 24 hours. The ability to bring all digital data points and insights that a company requires to make informed decisions provides clients with real-time analysis that is not usually available to most brands.

Vase.ai has worked with leading brands in ASEAN and run over 600 projects for clients, including large brands such as Digi, Carsome, IPG Mediabrands, Systema, TNB, RinggitPlus.