Cross-border eCommerce Enabler Buyandship Secures Initial US$10M in Series B Funding with Strategic Investment from Cool Japan Fund - PR Newswire APAC
Summary
The funds will be allocated to automation of operations, research, and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, and market expansion into the Southeast Asia (SEA) regions.Cool Japan Fund was founded in November 2013 as a public-private fund backed by the Japanese government, with the aim of contributing to the sustainable growth of Japans economy through the expansion of overseas demand and supply of attractive products and services unique to Japanese lifestyle and culture.Through its strong community, data analytics, and logistics network, Buyandship has been a market leader in cross-border ecommerce, having processed US$383 million in GMV in the last fiscal year. This system will utilize algorithm to feed user-generated content (UGC) automatically based on behavioral records to enhance user stickiness and engagement.Sheldon Li, Co-founder and CEO of Buyandship, said, "Buyandship continues to realize its mission of offering consumers a simple and intuitive ecommerce experience, to purchase products globally, at the most competitive pricing. The latest round of investment, alongside funding from the HKSTP Elite Program, will further cement Buyandships leadership and competitiveness in space with AI-driven functionality and machine learning in its service offering, deepened community engagement, and enhanced margins from warehouse automation. From a geographical expansion perspective, Buyandship looks forward to widening its coverage within SEA and South Korea, benefiting even more consumers in the region. Included within these statistics is the segment of cross-border e-commerce, which is predicted to experience a swift expansion, growing from $780 billion in 2019 to a projected $4.82 trillion in 2026[1].Established in 2014, Buyandship is committed to empowering consumers to buy any product globally through big data, global pricing comparison, social commerce, and logistics technologies.