Secai Marche lands US$1M to become the Amazon for fresh farm produce in ASEAN
Secai Marche, an online marketplace that connects farmers with restaurants in Japan and Malaysia, has secured US$1 million in a funding round from Japanese VC firms Beyond Next Ventures and Monex Ventures, as well as some unnamed angels.
Secai Marche CEO Ami Sugiyama told e27 that the startup will use the funding — which was closed in December 2019 — to expand its operations to Singapore next year, followed by Indonesia and Thailand.
“We are aiming to be the Amazon for fresh farm produce in ASEAN,” Sugiyama said.
Founded by Sugiyama and Shusaku hayakawa, Secai Marche is a platform for restaurants to purchase high-quality products directly from farmers. Its mission is to help build more economically-viable and sustainable small-scale farms around the world through an improved access to quality and delicious food.
The firm sources ingredients — around 2,500 items — directly from farmers in Southeast Asia and Japan. Among the products sourced, 30 per cent are from Japan, 50 per cent from Malaysia, and the rest is from other parts of ASEAN.
“We do everything ourselves — from purchasing, trading, picking and packing, to arranging the logistics,” she said. “We have been operating in Malaysia for the last two years years and are servicing over 70 farmers and 200 restaurants customers already.”
Sugiyama also informed that Secai Marche is currently in talks for Series A round of funding. “We expect to raise the new round by December-January.”