• As 1exchange’s second cross-border listing, Jocom raises aggregate proceeds of S$5.6m from the listing
• Jocom intends to complete its transformation as a fully-branded, end-to-end, ‘category killer’ grocery mobile app in Malaysia
• Funds raised will go towards the Group’s expansion to West Malaysian states and to overseas markets including Indonesia and Australia
• Perfecting cross-border venture by penetrating the China market, channelling sales of Malaysian products to Chinese consumers
SINGAPORE, 18 March 2021 – The company behind Malaysia’s first grocery mobile app Jocom International Holdings SDN. BHD. (“Jocom” or the “Company” or together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), today announced that it has successfully listed part of its share capital on Singapore’s first regulated private securities exchange, 1exchange (“1X”), raising aggregate proceeds of S$5.6 million. This starts a new chapter in its ambitions to expand its presence locally and abroad as it raises capital for business growth and development of new technologies, strategic partnerships, and investments which will also further strengthen the Company’s position as Malaysia’s first HDC1-awarded mobile grocery delivery service platform.
From left: Jocom Founder and CEO, Mr Joshua Sew, and Co-Founder and Managing Director, Ms Agnes Chua aims to transform JOCOM as a fully-branded, end-to-end, ‘category killer’ grocery mobile app in Malaysia.
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The listing is 1X’s second cross-border listing, as well as the third private securities exchange listing of its kind in Singapore. Part of CapBridge Financial, and backed by Singapore Exchange (“SGX”), SGInnovate, South Korea’s Hanwha Investment and Securities Co, Hong Kong’s Cyberport Macro Fund, and AMTD Digital2, 1X is Singapore’s first regulated private securities exchange with a Recognised Market Operator licence granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Established in 2015, Jocom, which is an acronym for “Just Order Conveniently on Mobile”, operates a mobile grocery store through its subsidiaries Jocom MShopping SDN. BHD. (“Jocom MShopping”) and Jocom Ethirty seven SDN. BHD., and has built a sizeable base of three million users, 500 vendors and 15,000 SKUs as at today. It started out as Malaysia’s first grocery mobile app and has evolved into one of few end-to-end platforms for grocery shopping in Malaysia. It has full control over the entire order journey from purchase to fulfilment and has ownership over the platform, proprietary software, delivery fleet, and storage facilities. Supported by its integrated operations, Jocom MShopping clinched the award of being Malaysia’s ‘First Grocery Mobile Commerce App’ from the Malaysia Book of Records in 2017. Jocom is also currently a full Multimedia Super Corridor status company with a 10- year tax-free benefit.
From left: Jocom’s Co-founder and Managing Director: Agnes Chua, Jocom’s Founder and CEO: Joshua Sew, Founder & Group CEO of MCM: Maxshangkar, Jocom’s Chairman: Yang Mulia Tengku Dato’ Dr. Hishammuddin Zaizi bin Yang Amat Mulia Tengku Azman Shah Alhaj, and Jocom’s Chief Operating Officer: Ms Sharon Goh at the listing ceremony.
Jocom Founder and CEO, Mr Joshua Sew, is a technopreneur with extensive experience in e- commerce and had built Jocom’s own delivery fleet. He is also currently the Chairman of the Malaysian Digital Chamber of Commerce. Co-Founder and Managing Director, Ms Agnes Chua, has more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and information and technology businesses. Their families are involved in the logistics industry and grocery business respectively. Seeing the potential of combining both their family businesses and leveraging their own backgrounds and professional experiences, Mr Sew and Ms Chua founded Jocom, with Mr Sew writing the proprietary software that launched the app.
Besides the mobile app, a significant portion of Jocom’s business over the last five years involved operating behind the scenes in the running of virtual shops and fulfilling of orders on existing online marketplaces. With this latest round of funds obtained through the 1X listing, the Company is now ready to complete its transformation as a fully-branded online platform and a gateway for both consumers as well as local producers in Malaysia who want to break into the Malaysian market and beyond.
Joshua Sew said: “Our dream for Jocom is to be the ‘category killer’ in online grocery shopping and we are ready to share our growth story with investors and kickstart a new brand journey for Jocom. Our outperformance during Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (“MCO”) at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic has proven our resilience and relevance as an essential, mobile-enabled business and we believe this is an opportune time to launch an overhaul of our own platform. Funding aside, our new status as a listee on a private securities exchange backed by the SGX will also expose Jocom to a new pool of investors and enhance its positioning for more business opportunities in the future.”
Jocom Chairman, Y.M. Tengku Dato’ Dr. Hishammuddin Zaizi bin Y.A.M Tengku Azman Shah Alhaj, said: “As health awareness remains high and economies gradually recover, Jocom continues to pursue technology-driven improvement initiatives which focus on increasing quality, efficiency, and innovation across its production processes, and digital and data analysis systems. Jocom is equally dedicated to supporting Malaysia’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to develop, promote and sell their products and services through its M-commerce solutions and showcasing them to domestic and regional markets.The Company’s success is one of shared prosperity for Malaysia’s MSMEs, particularly Bumiputra and female entrepreneurs, as we help them with the means to navigate this new business environment and with expanding their business in the domestic and regional markets.”
1X Chief Executive Officer, Choo Haiping, said: “We are pleased to welcome Jocom, Malaysia’s fastest growing mobile commerce platform. For many customers, Jocom’s specialist mobile app has been a reliable, convenient, and efficient one-stop shop for their groceries and lifestyle needs. Jocom has also contributed greatly to the digital transformation of many traditional businesses in Malaysia, through its accessible mobile commerce solutions. Jocom can count on the 1X platform as it continues on its growth journey.”
Riding on the increasing popularity of online grocery shopping in Malaysia, Jocom has generated approximately US$40 million in sales revenue between 2015 and 2020. As the world grappled with supply chain disruptions and the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Jocom’s sales leapt 30% year-on-year, boosted by an increase in online grocery purchases of essential items as people complied with the MCO.
Citing statistics portal Statista and research and training organisation IGD Asia, an article on Datareportal3 highlighted that Malaysia ranked 2nd in the former’s list of world’s fastest growing grocery market in 2018, while the latter predicted that the online sales value of grocery in Malaysia will increase at a CAGR of more than 60% between 2017 and 2022. In addition, since 2015, Malaysia’s e-commerce market had tripled in size to over US$3 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach US$11 billion in 20254. This bodes well for Jocom’s future prospects.
The Company plans to invest significant resources into developing an AI-powered back-end system which will analyse big data such as demographics, customer preferences and spending power, and transform it into actionable insights for targeted marketing activities. The AI-driven analytical insights will also support delivery logistics, inventory management and merchandise pricing, streamlining of processes and generating of cost efficiencies.
Beyond Malaysia, Jocom has started making inroads in China, channelling sales of Malaysian products to Chinese consumers. Moving forward, it plans to expand its operations to markets such as Indonesia and Australia, positioning itself as a gateway for Malaysian producers to make their products available to overseas markets.
Source: Jocom International Holdings SDN. BHD.
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