KUALA LUMPUR: Paramount Corp Bhd has invested RM10mil in e-commerce venture Commerce DotAsia Ventures Sdn Bhd (Commerce.Asia), in line with its strategy to diversify its revenue stream.
In a statement, the group said the investment was made via its wholly-owned investment vehicle Magna Intelligent Sdn Bhd and Magna’s 30%-owned associate Omegaxis Sdn Bhd, which owns peer-to-peer lending platform Fundaztic.
Commerce.Asia, which operates in Southeast Asia, manages all aspects of customers’ online businesses, from developing their online stores to managing product sales across multiple e-marketplaces, including warehousing, payment, delivery, marketing, and order management.
According to Paramount Corporate Strategy & Investment head Tracy Gan, the convergence of the fintech and e-commerce trends serves as the platform for Fundaztic to provide financing to Commerce.Asia’s network of merchants utilising advanced data and insights.
The company currently has over 92,000 active sellers that use its various platforms, with a group gross merchandise volume (GMV) of RM6.7 billion last year.
Paramount said the investment comes in line with its strategic plan to identify new sources of earnings, particularly in the digital space.
“The pandemic had shifted consumer behaviour and accelerated e-commerce adoption worldwide over the past two years.
“As such, our investment in Commerce.Asia is timely given its end-to-end ecosystem, track record, and business model which has almost doubled in revenue since 2020 and turned profitable in 2021,” said Gan.
Moving forward, she said Paramount is looking to increase its footprint in the digital space with opportunities that create synergy with its existing investments and businesses.
