(ASEAN Startups) Sleek, a Singapore-based fintech firm, announced Friday that it has extended its Series A round to $25 million, with the participation of Singapore-based global investor EDBI and existing investors, in a mix of equity and debt.
The startup, which announced a first closing of $14 million led by White Star Capital and Jungle Ventures in November, will use the fresh funds to bolster tech and product development, hire new talent, expand presence in existing markets, and enter new markets, Sleek said in a statement.
“Since day one, our mission has been to allow anyone to start a business quickly and easily. With the latest addition of the business account feature, now more than ever, we are enabling ideas to become great businesses, without the friction and inefficiency that paper-based and offline processes bring,” said Adrien Barthel, Chief Growth Officer and Co-Founder of Sleek.
Founded by Julien Labruyere and Adrien Barthel in Singapore, Sleek’s vision is to enable anyone to go from an idea to an operating company in a day. Sleek’s proprietary technology makes it possible to quickly register a legal entity and open a business account able to collect and send payments at the same time. The company is licensed by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Act.
Sleek began operating in 2017 with the mission of removing the admin hassle from every entrepreneur and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) owner’s plate. It began by offering company registration services, then expanded its offering to provide bookkeeping, tax, and payroll services to its clients. Since its
inception, the company has built its business around a 100 percent digital experience, a transparent offering, and an efficient service delivery enabled by technology.
More recently, Sleek started offering free business accounts to all of its clients. The SGD deposit accounts are able to collect and process payments while handling the bookkeeping in an automated fashion. In addition, Sleek will add payment cards to the service offering this month, allowing business owners to easily pay vendors or even issue cards for all of their employees for ease of expense management
In less than five years, the company has built a portfolio of more than 5,000 clients, generating over $10 million of annualized recurring revenue. Sleek expanded into Hong Kong in 2019, began operations in Australia in 2021, and recently announced the acquisition of Ltd Companies in the United Kingdom. Ltd Companies is a historical player in the company registration space and has incorporated more than 450,000 companies.
“We are very happy and humbled to welcome EDB Investments into our journey. As a Singapore-founded company that focuses a lot on building a digital infrastructure for companies to set up and grow, we are thankful for this unique recognition of our added value to the local ecosystem, and we look forward to working together in Singapore and beyond,” Julien Labruyere, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Sleek.
EDBI Chief Executive Officer and President Chu Swee Yeok said, with digitalization becoming increasingly critical for (SMEs), Sleek’s one-stop digital platform
addresses a common pain point for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to digitalize corporate secretarial, accounting, and finance functions in a simple and cost-effective manner.
“EDBI looks forward to supporting our homegrown company as it develops new business solutions and technology capabilities in Singapore whilst expanding globally,” he said.
Investing since 1991, EDBI is a Singapore-based global investor in select high growth technology sectors ranging from Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Emerging Technology (ET), Healthcare (HC), and promising Singapore SMEs in strategic industries. As a value-creating investor, EDBI assists companies to achieve their ambitious goals by leveraging our broad network, resources, and expertise. With our growth capital, EDBI supports companies seeking to expand in Asia and globally through Singapore.
>>> Invite you to read more articles about Fintech