With its latest fund injection amounting to S$10.5 million from Series A of its funding round, FastCo plans to make deeper inroads into the regional markets as it focuses on fortifying its marketing initiatives and growing its sales and product development teams.
FastCo has announced that it raised S$4.7million in investments during the extended Series A round led by Malaysia-based investment firm, OSK Ventures International and participated by existing investor Cento Ventures and new investor Kairous Capital.
Cento, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology start-ups in Southeast Asia, also contributed S$5.8 million during the initial Series A round held in December 2021 and participated in the Founder and management-led buy-out of FastCo from then SGX-listed Singapore Press Holdings (“SPH”).
As FastCo’s Singapore operations yield a positive cash flow, and buoyed by positive prospects from recovering job markets, the Group expects to break-even within the next 2 years.
FastCo is the company behind FastJobs, South-east Asia’s top non-executive job portal for both jobseekers and employers, and FastGig, Singapore’s first flexi-work recruitment app.
“We are excited to welcome OSKVI and Kairous onboard as FastCo embarks on a journey of accelerated growth. OSKVI is an established investor with seasoned experience investing in the HRTech business. Their investment is a validation of our progress since we spun off. Both OSKVI and Kairous are strategic partners who will strengthen our expansion efforts in Malaysia, where we aim to double down on the underserved B40 market,” FastCo Founder and CEO Julian Tan said on the latest funding.
Amelia Ong, Executive Director and CEO of OSKVI, said they are excited to have FastCo join their stable of portfolio companies that are leading change and delivering positive impact in their respective industries.
Ong said FastCo’s recruitment platforms are about delivering the kind of change that is especially needed by the informal and non-executive employment sector.
She expressed confidence that FastCo will play a key role in facilitating the growth and success of “Gig work” since about 26 percent of the local workers in Malaysia now belong to the gig economy.
Ali Fancy of Cento Ventures said the strong growth in FastCo’s net revenue over the last year is a reflection of the size of the market they are addressing and the relevance of FastCo’s products in the current labour environment.
FastCo is committed to improve the livelihoods of underserved and informal jobseekers and deliver a data-driven unified experience for employers through its proprietary employment matching platform, catering to job markets in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Since the completion of the buy-out exercise in 2021, the Group has experienced steady growth. To date, the platform has registered more than 4.4 million jobseekers across all operating markets, with an average of 500,000 monthly active users.
These jobseekers have access to more than 20,000 jobs from verified employers, including big players in the retail, food and beverages and logistics industries.
This year, FastCo also launched its flexi-work platform, FastGig, which enables access to flexible work opportunities beyond conventional part-time or full-time employment. FastGig has worked with dozens of businesses to plug their staffing gaps, fulfilling over 500,000 man-hours since its inception.
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