Phandeeyar Accelerator start-ups White Merak and Chate Sat are celebrating continuing success in attracting funding to grow their businesses, it was revealed last week.
White Merak, Myanmar’s first animated comic application, raised US$140,000 (nearly K190 million) in a July 6 funding round from five angel investors in return for 23 percent equity, Phandeeyar innovation lab said in a news release.
The investment round put White Merak’s post money valuation at $600,000, Phandeeyar said.
It named the angel investors as Ko Kyaw Tha, managing director of KTS Myanmar, Ko Thar Thet, managing director of Zwenexsys Ltd, Ko Htoo Myint Naung, chief executive of Technomation, virtual reality and augmented reality investor Ko Kyaw Thu Aung Ba, and Ko Mike Myat Min Han, the founder of Cars DB.
The investment will enable White Merak to expand services to comic book lovers living outside Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw, and grow its user base from a current 17,000 to a seven-figure number by the end of 2018, the release said.
Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
Chate Sat, the country’s first platform for freelance workers, received six-figure funding from two international venture capital firms and an unnamed Myanmar-based angel investor on July 6, Phandeeyar said.
The venture capital firms, Singapore-based companies Vulpes Investment Management Ltd and Theta Capital, have each committed to providing further funding in future rounds.
More than 4,600 freelancers and 770 employers are using chatesat.com to find or hire freelance workers, Phandeeyar said. Chate Sat aims to have more than 8,000 freelancers and 2,000 employers on the platform by the end of this year, and is planning to expand operations outside Yangon, to Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and Taunggyi.
Chate Sat and White Merak are among the four alumni from Phandeeyar Accelerator’s first cohort.
Chate Sat launched its platform on the first day of cohort 1 in September 2016 and within six months had more than 3,400 freelancers and 590 freelancers, the release said.
It said that during its six-months in the accelerator program, White Merak had secured more than 10,000 active users.
Applications for the Phandeeyar Accelerator program’s second cohort close on July 31. Up to 10 startups will be selected in August and the six-month program will begin in September. Successful applicants receive $25,000 in seed money to help launch their start-up.
