Trax raises US$100m to expand in China, globally

Singapore

TRAX, a GIC-backed startup providing computer vision and in-store analytics for the retail industry, has joined Singapore's unicorn stable after closing a US$100 million investment to expand its footprint in China and globally.

The Series D round was led by Hopu Investments, an alternative asset manager in Asia focusing on the consumer and technology sectors, Trax said in a statement on Tuesday. JPMorgan advised Trax on the round.

During an interview in May, before this deal was finalised, Trax had said it was in talks with private equity firms to raise US$100 million at a pre-money valuation of US$1.1 billion. On Tuesday, Reuters cited a source with direct knowledge of the deal as saying that Trax was valued at US$1.3 billion after the latest round.

With this price tag, Trax joins the likes of Grab, Razer, Lazada and Sea as a Singapore-based unicorn - a startup valued at over US$1 billion.

Trax said in May that the fresh capital would be used to finance three acquisitions. It had recently purchased a Beijing computer-vision startup, LenzTech Co, and was also in advanced talks to buy a European competitor and a US firm, according to Trax chief executive and co-founder Joel Bar-El during the May interview.

On Tuesday, Hopu's managing director Gunther Hamm said: "We are convinced that Trax can grow rapidly in China's consumer landscape.

"The vast majority of China's brick-and-mortar stores remain underserved in store management, assortment and optimisation". Mr Hamm added that Trax will be able to quickly capture this white space.

Trax said on Tuesday that the latest round of funds will accelerate its innovation and mass-market deployment of its retail solutions.

Headquartered in Singapore, Trax counts GIC, Boyu Capital and Investec among its existing investors. American private equity firm Warburg Pincus is its largest shareholder.

Trax is eyeing an initial public offering in the US within the next 18 to 24 months, and said in May that it was also in talks with the Singapore Exchange for a potential dual listing.

The startup provides in-store execution, market measurement and data analytics for manufacturers and retailers of consumer goods. It combines its proprietary fine-grained image recognition and machine learning with an Internet of Things platform, to turn photos of retail shelves into granular, actionable shelf and store-level insights.

To date, it has raised more than US$350 million in equity financing, and operates in over 50 countries.

Other unicorns in Singapore include Tencent-backed gaming operator Sea, which is listed in New York and had a market cap of US$15.7 billion at Monday's close of trading.

Ride-hailing giant Grab was valued at US$14 billion after a US$1.46 billion cash boost from SoftBank in March, according to a CNN report citing a person familiar with the firm.

Meanwhile, The Business Times understands that online retailer Lazada had a valuation of US$3.15 billion as at 2017, although Alibaba Group has since injected an additional US$2 billion in the company in early 2018.

Gaming hardware firm Razer, listed in Hong Kong, had a HK$13.9 billion (S$2.42 billion) market cap during the midday break on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data.