SleekFlow, HK’s social messaging platform, gets Gobi Partners backing

Hong Kong-based social messaging startup SleekFlow announced that it has raised a 7-figure HKD pre-Series A investment from Gobi Partners China.

SleekFlow, founded in 2019 by Henson Tsai, is an all-in-one social messaging platform that helps SMEs in digital transformation. Since inception, the company has won over 1,000 users across 20 countries and has reached the target of annual recurring revenue of 7-digit USD.

The fresh funding will finance the expansion of SleekFlow outside Hong Kong in the next six months. The company plans to establish a new Southeast Asia headquarter in Singapore and set up sales teams in Malaysia and Indonesia.

“More capital will conceivably be invested in marketing to establish the brand. Shortly, SleekFlow will partner up with local and international big names, creating new marketing, customer service, or business model” Tsai, the founder and CEO, said.

The company foresees growth ahead as the spread of COVID-19 has brought a wave of digitalization, particularly in tertiary industries like retail, beauty salons, education services, and others.

“To swiftly adapt to the dynamic environment and facilitate contactless marketing and customer service amid the pandemic, they depend upon various instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat,” Tsai added.

SleekFlow allows enterprise teams to create and manage conversations while accelerating workflow on all messaging channels, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Line, WeChat, SMS, Viber, Live Chat, and even programmable calls.

At the very early stage of SleekFlow, the company’s total revenue was just about HK$30,000. It proliferated over the past two years and achieved annual recurring revenue of 7-digit USD today.

The lead investor, Gobi Partners China, is the investment manager of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF), a not-for-profit initiative launched by Alibaba Group in 2015.

AEF seeks to help Hong Kong and Taiwan-based entrepreneurs and young people realize their dreams and visions for their businesses and communities.