2021

TechinAsia

Singapore-based Hepmil Media Group, most known for media platforms SGAG, MGAG, and PGAG, has raised US$10 million in a series A funding round led by Quest Ventures, Temasek’s Pavilion Capital, and Bent Pixels.

Hepmil Media Group is a tech-driven media firm that runs online media channels that reach over 30 million people per week.

It also operates digital creator agency Hepmil Creators’ Network and partners with over 300 regional influencers that together generate over 3 billion monthly views. It has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Manila and has over 100 employees in total.

The company was co-founded by Karl Mak, who also acts as Hepmil Media Group’s CEO. Before starting the company, he co-founded Televate, a cloud-based software solutions firm.

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Adobo Magazine

Hepmil Media Group, Singapore’s leading technology-driven media company, announced a US$10 million Series A funding round led by Quest Ventures, Pavilion Capital, and Bent Pixels to support its expansion plans in the region.

The Group, which owns media companies SGAG, MGAG, PGAG, as well as digital creator agency Hepmil Creators’ Network, will leverage the fund to strengthen its leadership in the digital media space by growing its content & creators’ platform and capabilities, along with expansion of its esports and gaming network.

Jeffrey Seah, Partner, Quest Ventures said: “We have been impressed by the Hepmil Media Group founders and leadership bench for a while, and we feel that it is well-positioned to achieve its vision to become a key player in South East Asia’s media scene through its commitment in growing its diaspora footprint and professional services capabilities.”

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Yahoo! Finance

Hepmil Media Group, Singapore’s leading technology-driven media company, announced a US$10 million Series A funding round led by Quest Ventures, Pavilion Capital and Bent Pixels to support its expansion plans in the region. This is also the Group’s first fund raise from institutional investors since its founding in 2015.

The Group, which owns media companies SGAG, MGAG, PGAG, as well as digital creator agency Hepmil Creators’ Network, will leverage the fund to strengthen its leadership in the digital media space by growing its content & creators’ platform and capabilities, along with expansion of its esports and gaming network. There are also plans to grow more revenue streams, particularly in developing content capabilities to serve regional commerce players in their direct-to-consumer efforts, as well as plans to expand into Thailand and Vietnam in 2022.

Jeffrey Seah, Partner, Quest Ventures said: “Digital content platforms have evolved into ecommerce marketplaces, community town squares and credit access outlets as the digital economy overhauls social compact and personal habits. With an increasingly digitalised audience in Southeast Asia, consumers and organisations seek differentiated, alternative and now-current avenues to communicate, converse and convert. We have been impressed by the Hepmil Media Group founders and leadership bench for a while, and we feel that it is well-positioned to achieve its vision to become a key player in South East Asia’s media scene through its commitment in growing its diaspora footprint and professional services capabilities.”

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VulcanPost

Local media company Hepmil Media Group announced today (November 25) that it has closed a US$10 million Series A funding round.

The round is led by venture capital fund Quest Ventures, Pavilion Capital — a private equity firm under Temasek Holdings — and Bent Pixels, the world’s largest gaming lifestyle media platform.

The Group owns media companies SGAG, MGAG, PGAG, as well as digital creator agency Hepmil Creators’ Network (HCN), and this is its first fund raise from institutional investors since its founding in 2015.

Over the years, it has evolved to become more than just a digital media platform, with capabilities in technology and production, talent and cast management, as well as providing media inventory specific to the esports sector in Southeast Asia (SEA).

Headquartered in Singapore, Bent Pixels Asia will enable Hepmil Media Group to expand its influence and reach within the esports community in SEA, by being the preferred provider for YouTube reserved media in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

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The Business Times

BEHIND the wacky memes and skits of SGAG, serious money is being made. Its parent company, Hepmil Media Group, has been in the black since inception. The startup recorded S$5.2 million in revenue and over S$812,800 in profit in 2020, according to regulatory filings.

But in the past 6 years, it had raised only US$900,000 from angel investors – in 2017. One could say that’s “nubbad”, going by the lingo of the startup with the cheeky name (try reading “Hepmil” backwards).

The company is now at an “exciting” inflection point as it evolves beyond content publishing, co-founder and chief executive Karl Mak told The Business Times.

Hepmil is tapping institutional funds for the first time, as it expands into working with digital content creators, especially in e-sports.

It has bagged US$10 million in Series A funding, led by early-stage investor Quest Ventures, Temasek unit Pavilion Capital and Bent Pixels, a US digital media company that collaborates with e-sports content creators and advertisers.

Jeffrey Seah, partner at Quest Ventures, is bullish on Hepmil’s expansion beyond content publishing. “We have been impressed by the Hepmil founders and leadership bench for a while, and we feel that it is well-positioned to achieve its vision to become a key player in South East Asia’s media scene,” he said.

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DealStreetAsia

Mirroring global market trends, the buy-now-pay-later or the BNPL model that allows customers to shop for smaller-ticket items on installments is becoming a fast-growing phenomenon in Southeast Asia if deal activity and consumption trends are an indicator.

Earlier this month, Temasek-backed cashback player Shopback announced that it had acquired Singapore-based BNPL startup hoolah for an undisclosed sum.

James Tan, managing partner of Quest Ventures, an investor in ShopBack, said the acquisition [of hoolah] will allow the site to offer bigger-ticket items since consumers are more likely to prefer paying for them in instalments. ShopBack mostly makes money by charging merchants and marketplaces that list on its site commission, with a small sum of revenue coming from advertising. Creating a BNPL department in-house would have been difficult because of the amount of money they would have needed to finance the credit, Tan added.

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Steppe

Инвесторами CTOgram выступили ведущий азиатский венчурный фонд Quest Ventures, MOST Ventures и ангел-инвестор Адиль Нургожин.

О привлечении инвестиций стало известно 16 ноября — после нового раунда финансирования от международных институциональных инвесторов. Так, инвесторами CTOgram выступили ведущий азиатский венчурный фонд Quest Ventures, MOST Ventures и ангел-инвестор Адиль Нургожин.

Инвестиции в 300 млн тенге ускорят внедрение CTOgram по странам СНГ и обеспечат поддержку автовладельцев. Известно, что стартап уже привлекал ангельские инвестиции от топовых бизнес-ангелов, таких как Олжас Жиенкулов, Талгат Исмаил, Ануар Сейфуллин и Руслан Ракымбай.

Управляющий партнер фонда Quest Ventures Джеймс Тан рассказал, что в CTOgram инвесторов привлекли «прозрачность и удобство», а также большой потенциал стартапа в целом.

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Kapital.kz

Lead-инвестором выступил азиатский венчурный фонд Quest Ventures

Казахстанский стартап CTOgram сообщил о привлечении нового раунда финансирования от международных институциональных инвесторов. В раунде, оцениваемом примерно в 5 млн долларов, lead-инвестором выступил ведущий азиатский венчурный фонд Quest Ventures, также в нем приняли участие MOST Ventures и ангел-инвестор Адиль Нургожин, сообщает корреспондент центра деловой информации Kapital.kz со ссылкой на пресс-службу компании.

«Отрасль автосервиса в Казахстане и в Центральной Азии оставалась практически неизменной в течение последних тридцати лет. Прозрачность и удобство, которые CTOgram привносит в этот сектор, прорывные и готовят почву для еще больших свершений», – прокомментировал управляющий партнер Quest Ventures James Tan.

CTOgram помогает водителям находить автоуслуги от проверенных поставщиков и автомобильные товары на платформе, которая уже обслужила 180 000 автовладельцев. К платформе подключено более 1100 автосервисов.

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TechinAsia

CTOgram, a Kazakhstan-based automotive startup, has raised US$700,000 in a seed round led by Quest Ventures. Other investors that participated in the round include Most Ventures and Adil Nurgozhin – a former board member of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.

Founded by Zhandos Tursumbayev in 2014, CTOgram helps customers buy automotive spare parts and get vehicle services such as maintenance and washing. The startup currently has 180,000 registered users and more than 1,100 partners providing vehicle services on its platform.

CTOgram will use the fresh money to expand across the region and provide more support to vehicle owners. It also has a plan to expand to the USA.

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Forbes Kazakhstan

Во вторник, 16 ноября, проект CTOgram объявил о привлечении нового раунда финансирования от международных институциональных инвесторов. В раунде, оцениваемом в $5 млн, lead-инвестором выступил ведущий азиатский венчурный фонд Quest Ventures, также в нем приняли участие MOST Ventures и ангел-инвестор Адиль Нургожин.

CTOgram помогает водителям находить автоуслуги от проверенных поставщиков и автомобильные товары, такие как запчасти от оптовых торговцев, на простой в использовании платформе, которая уже обслужила 180 тысяч автовладельцев. К платформе уже подключено более 1 100 автосервисов.

«Отрасль автосервиса в Казахстане и Центральной Азии оставалась практически неизменной в течение последних тридцати лет. Прозрачность и удобство, которые CTOgram привносит в этот сектор, прорывные и готовят почву для еще больших свершений», – прокомментировал управляющий партнер Quest Ventures Джеймс Тан.

Quest Ventures – один из первых инвесторов в Carro – единорога с быстро развивающегося рынка перепродажи автомобилей в Юго-Восточной Азии, а также Ion Mobility (электротранспорт) и единорога Carousell (Carousell Cars).

«Я один из тех, кто поверил в Жандоса и команду CTOgram с самого начала, и вижу, что мы заходим в нишу, в которой у нас есть все шансы доминировать. Эта ниша своего рода океан, и команда научилась в нем плавать и плыть быстро. Остальные не догонят», – прокомментировал бизнес-ангел Адиль Нургожин.

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