Startup – Startup Graveyard

Zarrel – Fashion subscription service

August 9, 2019August 9, 2019Posted in Malaysia, StartupTagged failed startup, malaysia startup, startupsLeave a comment

Founded: July 2016

Shuttered: 2018

Founders: Ong Zhong-Ken, Lee Yvonne, Ong Sue Jinn

Amount Raised: No available news on funding raised

Reason for Closure: Key to Zarrel’s business is revenue through subscription of the fashion boxes with additional expected revenue achieved through potential sales of clothing items to customers. Keeping stock of sufficient clothing items is critical in maintaining repeat subscriptions to increase ARPU over time.

However, the variable overhead costs for the delivery of subscription boxes, washing and cleaning of returned products are key costs which add to the fixed overheads and could bear heavily against the revenue of the company. Our opinion is that a key cause of Zarrel’s closure that revenue was not sustainable over time.

What Remains:

Pitchin – Zarrel
The Star – A new big market for ‘share-wear’
SevenPie – Lee Yvonne: Emcee, Model, Entrepreneur; She Can Do It All!
Zoeypky – Zarrel, Your Infinite Closet!
Vulcan Post – This Team Thinks Ladies Will Pay RM168/Month To Have A Never-Ending Supply Of Clothes
BFM – Expand your closet, infinitely
The Edge TV – UPSTART: Zarrel wants to give you an infinite wardrobe
Beam – Zarrel lets you Wear Something Different Everyday for just a monthly subscription.
Oriental Daily – 【强人】Zarrel 实现共享衣橱
The Edge Malaysia – Zarrel: Malaysia’s first infinite closet

SportsPlay.Asia – App to bring Sports & Fitness to you

August 8, 2019Posted in Malaysia, StartupTagged malaysia startup, sports startup, startupsLeave a comment

Founded: January 2017

Shuttered: April 2018 (est based on last post on Instagram)

Founders: Jin Tan, KG Chung

Amount Raised: No news available on funding raised but SportsPlay.Asia is listed as a TinkBig Venture portfolio company. (Observation: Jin Tan was Principle Partner in TinkBig Venture while acting as CEO of SportsPlay.Asia)

Reason for Closure: Based observations through various sources, it seemed that SportsPlay.Asia was facing issues with its business model and organic scaling of users on their mobile app. The business direction and commercialization strategy seemed like not the right fit for the industry and audience addressed.

On the BFM and VspireTV interviews (link posted below), the challenges faced by the founders were shared during the interview and gives insight to their situation at that time.

What Remains:

Develop4U – SportsPlay
BFM – An AI Platform for Sports
VulcanPost – Two Startups On Opposing Teams Join Up To Revamp The M’sian Sports Scene
VspireTV – TinkBig / SportsPlay: What VC looks for in a startup and how to impress them | Jin Tan
Zaim Mohzani – Moderating a panel on sports business
The Edge Markets – Cover Story: The supportive venture capitalist

Honestbee – Online grocery and food delivery

August 6, 2019August 8, 2019Posted in Funded, Malaysia, Singapore, StartupTagged honestbee, startup funding, startup in trouble, startupsLeave a comment

Founded: July 2015

Shuttered: July 22 operations in Malaysia was suspended after ending its presence in Hong Kong and discontinuing services in Indonesia & Japan with operations in the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand also suspended. Whether Malaysian operations will be resumed in future is still unclear.

Founders: Joel Sng, Isaac Tay, and Jonathan Low

Amount Raised: RM63.6 million (USD15 million) in 2015 from Formation8 and a further RM195.13 million (USD46) million from Korean investors (reportedly from the South Korean LS Group which Brian Koo, who also was a shareholder of Foundation8 which provided Honestbee its initial funding) at an undisclosed time through its Singapore Headquarters.

Reason for Closure: While Honestbee Malaysia has only been suspended indefinitely and its HQ in Singapore has gone through a downsizing, the startup cannot yet be considered as closed.

The main reason for Honestbee’s troubles now seems to stem from a cash flow crunch from rapid expansion combined with a situation where cost of acquiring new users has significantly outperformed the startup’s revenue margins. With no funding or life line currently in sight, its hard to gauge if Honestbee will bounce back up. With its reported debt of RM763.56 million (USD180 million), the inevitable seems unavoidable.