Pomelo Becomes The First Thai Company In A Decade To Ever Go Into C Series Funding Round Successfully

Although it’s a joyful occasion for Pomelo to have finally got into this stage, we are not sure if the rest of the startup industry in Thailand should be optimistic or  even rejoice considering that compared to any other South East Asian country, despite we having the most number of government agencies that have been promoting innovations and startups, having the highest government spending in this sector compared to other South-east Asian countries, having  the most amount of corporate hubs, incubators, accelerators etc  unlike our poorer neighbours, we have yet to produce any notably successful Thai brand startups, let alone wishful thinking for a Thai unicorn!
 
Perhaps someone should review where all the monies are going to and are these entities effective or simply full of hot air. I know of one of these entities where there is so much bureaucratic red tape and the director has so much ego that he even gets his staff to ‘blacklist’ Thai tax paying entities that question him! (that is according to his own staff that have showed his  line messages etc.)


 
Coming back to Pomelo, it managed to secure US$ 52 million in a series C funding round from Central Group, Provident Growth Fund, InterVest Star SEA Growth Fund, Andre Hoffman, Toivi Annus, Lombard Private Equity, Ambient Sound Investment OU and The Luxemburg Company Deverel.
 
In 2017, Pomelo an omnichannel fashion company raised US19 million in its series B funding and subsequently expanded to Malaysia and Hong Kong and launched 8 physical stores in Thailand an done In Singapore. The brand extended its product range including an eco-friendly range like Purpose, a cosmetics range called Beet and a menwear line called Pomelo Man.
 
Pomelo continues to be innovative in its technological fashion platforms offering newer innovations such as the Pomelo Pick which allows customers to try before buying only to its selected loyal customers.
 
Pomelo plans with the new funding to focus next on AI and Big data to assist in its pricings and designs as well as eCommerce personalization. Considering that the eCommerce market is growing at a fast rate in South East Asia with projections of up to US$ 90 billion by 2025, Pomelo is on the right path to success but whether it can become a Thai Unicorn needs to be seen.