RPG Commerce, a Malaysia-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce company, has announced raising $29 million in a Series B funding round to expand its brand portfolio and boost its technology and development processes.
The DTC e-commerce firm, which raised an undisclosed Series A funding last year, said the Series B round was co-anchored by East Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India (VVSEAI) and RHL Ventures.
The firm, which has employees in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, describes itself as a multi-brand DTC company that launches and operates a suite of DTC brands via a “shared backend infrastructure” approach.
RPG Commerce said its multi-brand business model launches, operates and optimises a suite of DTC brands by owning the development, production and delivery processes end-to-end.
It currently hosts a suite of 10+ in-house international brands, including apparel and homeware brands Thousand Miles, Bottoms Lab, Montigo, Cosmic Cookware and more.
“With this round of funding, we aim to rapidly expand our talent pool across the entire organisation and enhance our technological capabilities in addition to expanding our suite of brands to further disrupt the consumer landscape,” said RPG Commerce co-founder and CEO Melvin Chee.
The DTC e-commerce firm manufactures its products in China, maintains its headquarters in Malaysia and sells to developed markets like the US, Europe and Australia.
“It is critical for DTC businesses to build traction internationally to ensure success, and RPG stands out as a company that has been able to grow a loyal customer base across the US, Canada and Europe by building consumer trust through quality products and supply-chain innovation,” said East Ventures co-founder and managing partner Willson Cuaca.
In Southeast Asia, the DTC market is going through a major transformation with many new labels emerging in the region. In Indonesia alone, the DTC market is fast grabbing the interest of investors, brand-focused players such as Open Labs and Hypefast, and potentially, FMCG giants.