Singapore-South Korea joint fund invests US$2.3m in Vietnam proptech platform Rever

THE GEC-KIP Technology and Innovation Fund (GEC-KIP Fund) has invested US$2.3 million into Rever, a Vietnam proptech platform.

The S$120 million GEC-KIP Fund was jointly launched in 2018 by Golden Equator Capital (GEC), a Singapore-based fund management firm, and Korea Investment Partners (KIP), a Seoul-headquartered venture capital and private equity firm.

Rever meanwhile, was founded in 2016 by Manh Phan, the former marketing director of Vietnamese messaging and social platform Zalo. Rever works exclusively with real estate agents to provide more tailored and transparent services to help clients find homes for living and investment.

It also works with real estate developers in Vietnam such as Keppel Land and KhangDien, and recently supported the sales of new high-profile projects such as Empire City and Diamond Island.

Rever also runs experience centres which allow clients to meet agents handling all requests and enquiries on the platform's services and properties with technical tools.

With the new funding, Rever will look to deepen its presence in Vietnam with plans to open 30 additional large experience centres in the next 18 months for client servicing. It will also start expanding beyond Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and other coastal cities.

The investment will also help the platform build on its technology, recruitment and operations, GEC said on Thursday in an announcement. It added that Rever reported over US$1.5 million in revenue in 2018, with expectations to "triple that revenue in 2019", having done almost 1,000 transactions year-to-date.

Following the move, Rever's board of directors will be joined by KIP executive director Synclare Kim as a representative for the GEC-KIP Fund and for the provision of hands-on support.

Previous funding rounds for Rever saw the participation of Le Hong Minh, the founder and chairman of Vietnamese unicorn internet company VNG, 24h Group founder and chairman Phan Minh Tam and investment management firm VinaCapital Ventures.

"The diverse background of the founding team at Rever and their extensive experience at some of the country's largest tech players such as VNG and Grab, gives us confidence that the management is well-positioned to continue ramping up growth rapidly," Mr Kim said.

"We are bullish on tech-based next-generation service platforms that help bring efficiencies to traditional service industries, yet having offline touchpoints for better customer service and gaining trust," GEC managing partner for venture investments Daren Tan added.

Rever is the second proptech company that the GEC-KIP Fund has invested into, the first being Singapore's Ohmyhome in September last year. GEC-KIP had led a S$4m investment in the proptech marketplace founded by sisters Rhonda and Race Wong.