Business management platform Osome raises US$2m in seed funding

AI-POWERED business management platform Osome has raised US$2 million for its seed round led by Berlin-headquartered venture capital firm Target Global. Other investors included Phystech Ventures, AD.RU funds and several angel investors.

Osome, which is based in Singapore, was launched in January 2018 to facilitate business management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its suite of services includes business registration, company record keeping, accounting, filing of annual returns, corporate secretary services and payroll management.

Osome said in a press statement that its platform uses automation tools and AI (artificial intelligence) to increase response time and accuracy, and to lower cost. The new capital will be used for product development and expansion to Australia and Hong Kong.

"We know how much time and resources are spent on issues that have no direct relation to business", said Mike Lobanov, general partner at Target Global. "Millions of projects in different countries face such problems, which is why Osome has a great opportunity to enter other international markets."

Target Global has 700 million euros (S$1.1 billion) in assets under management; its portfolio includes companies such as Auto1, Delivery Hero, GoEuro, Dreamlines and WeFox.

At the heart of Osome's technology is a proprietary AI chatbot that responds to customers' requests and aids them in crucial but time-consuming tasks involved in enterprise management, said the company. For instance, users wanting to incorporate a company will be guided to provide key details for registration in the secure chat; Osome then takes care of the necessary documentation.

The company said that in November this year, it incorporated more than 50 new companies, representing about 1 per cent of new companies registered in Singapore in that month.