Touchstone Partners Leads $1.1 Million Seed Funding in Social Commerce Start-Up ON

Ho Chi Minh City, 12th Jan 2022

ON, one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing social commerce platforms, today announced that it has successfully raised US$1.1 million in seed funding from a group of investors led by Touchstone Partners. ThinkZone Ventures also participated in the round.

Starting an online business has become top of mind for many people in Vietnam when they seek ways to earn money. But there are certain barriers to entry, such as an individual seller being unable to deal with suppliers for an attractive commission scheme, and not having the money to invest in inventory at the beginning. ON, a pioneer social commerce platform, makes it simpler for sellers by providing an end-to-end solution that handles orders, fulfillment, returns, shipping, and transactions, empowering everyone to become an entrepreneur. With ON, sellers simply use social media channels to market an item and earn a commission. The rest is handled by ON.

ON was founded by Giang Nguyen, a former tech lead at FPT and a seasoned entrepreneur who previously built a community of over 1 million online sellers and shippers. With this experience, Giang realized the opportunity to better leverage this expansive network by serving Vietnam’s ever-expanding social commerce segment. Along with Dzung Luu, who previously led the operation at Be, one of the biggest ride-hailing platforms in Vietnam, and Minh Nguyen, former CFO of Logivan, Giang saw the potential of social commerce in tier 2-3 cities and rural areas. Approximately 92% of households in rural areas now have smartphones and access to the internet and 72% engage in online shopping on Facebook or other social media platforms. Digital penetration is strong in these regions, but technology innovations lag behind. This is a huge untapped market that ON intends to explore.

Vietnamese consumers have been quickly moving to online commerce, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. A recent report from Facebook and Bain & Company said that the country would be the fastest-growing e-commerce in Southeast Asia by 2026, with an estimated gross merchandise value of US$56 billion, up from US$11.8 billion in 2020. While these figures are impressive, at present e-commerce comprises just 5.5% of retail sales in Vietnam.

Since its official launch in March 2021, ON has attracted more than 10,000 sellers, of which 90% are women. The majority of sellers live in small cities or in rural areas. Each seller can earn up to US$300 each month by selling items with ON.

Giang Nguyen, Co-Founder and CEO, commented, “Social commerce is still in an early stage in Vietnam, but we believe that it is poised to gain enormous traction in the coming years. We want to build a sustainable business where sellers can actually sell and earn income with us, and therefore, one of the key areas to focus on is product quality. We also invest extensively in technology, to address challenges in sourcing products, streamlining operations, and delivery. Our vision is to become a single ecosystem that will empower every online seller in Vietnam. The fresh funding of this round will be spent on expanding our presence and developing solutions to further serve the needs of our sellers in terms of management, delivery, and capital so that they can scale the business with us.”

“We’re pleased to welcome Touchstone Partners and ThinkZone Ventures as investors. They understand our vision and how we intend to realize it. They share our excitement for the growth potential this market holds. We’re confident that their capital, as well as their experience and networks, will help take ON to its next stage of development,” added Giang.

Mr. Khanh Tran, Managing Partner of Touchstone Partners, commented: “With e-commerce set to see robust growth in Vietnam, we believe social commerce – and particularly ON’s solution for empowering more people to successfully engage in it – has enormous potential. This is a very local business, and ON’s founders have the local market experience and expertise to play a significant role in driving its growth. We look forward to working with Giang and his team, who have a track record of successfully launching businesses and executing business plans as well as a commitment to building and operating their business with integrity.”

About ON

ON helps individuals to earn extra income by starting an online business easily and stress-free, without having to worry about inventory, management, or delivery. Its social commerce platform provides a full range of products and an end-to-end solution for sellers. All they have to do is to market the product to buyers. Once an order is placed, everything is handled by ON. More information about ON’s solutions may be found at https://ongroup.vn.

About Touchstone Partners
Touchstone Partners is a Vietnam-focused venture capital firm that aims to assist talented and driven founders to realize the potential of their businesses by applying their deep understanding of the Vietnamese market and utilizing a global network of connections.

Current investment areas include fintech, real estate, health technology, educational technology and technology initiatives that improve the efficiency of the value chains of important industries such as production and agriculture. Touchstone Partners aims to promote positive social development and set high standards for venture capital in Vietnam, proving that Vietnamese startups can deliver significant technology innovation and have a meaningful impact on society. Touchstone Partners’ investment capital comes from Pavilion Capital, Vulcan Capital, and several major governmental and private financial institutions in the region and the world.

For further information, please visit: www.touchstone.vc or email to: hello@touchstone.vc.