Krungsri leads three-way investment to expand B2B customer base
Krungsri Finnovate, the venture capital arm of Krungsri bank, in conjunction with TQLD, a company under TQM Corporation Public Limited, and THS Growth, have invested in the 1st round series-B investment in Baania (Thailand) Co Ltd with an investment target of US$10 million (Bt 320 million).
The funding will go towards development of AI and big data systems and platforms to expand the B2B customer base under three existing pillars - marketplace service, data service, and technology service.
Anchana Vallipakorn, co-founder and chief executive officer of Baania (Thailand) said: “Baania has secured the 1st round series-B investment from Krungsri Finnovate, TQLD, THS Growth, and an angel investor. They have confidence in the continuous growth and development of big data and technology for real estate industry and see the chance for expansion to other businesses. Our latest developments include Baania.com 2.0 to enable the marketplace platform to meet demands of consumers more comprehensively, the database platform 77-province coverage, new technologies such as smart land bank system to analyse relevant real estate project development, intelligent valuation system to effectively assist financial institutions and asset appraisal companies, as well as data management platform for large public and private organisations. Currently, we are in discussions with more investors”.
Sam Tanskul, managing director of Krungsri Finnovate Co Ltd, said: “Krungsri Finnovate has been the lead investor for two consecutive rounds. Our first one was the series-A investment in 2018, which allowed Baania to enjoy substantial growth, not only in in-depth database of Bangkok and other 26 provinces in Thailand, but also its partnership with various new business corporations in different projects according to its expanding real estate expertise. This, coupled with its technology strength, enabled Baania to fulfill requirements of customers and business alliances in property and related businesses in its best capability".
“At the same time, Krungsri and Baania are extending collaboration in several projects, mainly in the optimisation of in-depth data on people as well as property insight. With enhanced AI competency, Krungsri is working towards property appraisal innovations to expedite growth and agility of Krungsri home loan products for the maximum benefits of Krungsri customers,” Sam added.
Thuntee Sukchotrat, chief executive officer of TQLD, an insurance tech and innovation company of TQM Corporation Public Company Limited, said: “Home is the most important thing of a person’s life for it is the heart of the entire family. It takes great effort and determination for anyone to earn his/her house and securing it is of equal determination. This is the chief reason for growth of home insurance. TQLD, as the insurance technology expert, would like to meet demands of customers via TQM Insurance Broker—the leading insurance and financial adviser of Thailand. From selecting the best-matched policies from all insurance companies to aftersales services, we seek to assure that all of our customers are provided with products and services that suit them best in all aspects”.
“To achieve such tailor-made demand fulfillment, we need information on industry insight as well as in-depth customer data. As the big data expert in the insurance industry, we can leverage on the mentioned data and extract insight that delivers the best products and services for our customers,” he added.
Vorathep Sirirat-usdorn, executive director of THS Growth said: “THS Growth is a company under Teo Hong Silom Group, which has been in the property construction and development for over 45 years. Our core policy is to develop business innovation both in respect of business solutions and partners to ensure we stay ahead the trend and effectively meet our customers’ demands. Parting up with Baania is a part of such strategy. With Baania’s core strength in AI and big data, our real estate business will reach out to customers with higher efficiency. Meanwhile, Baania’s expertise enables us to collect big data and utilise AI to design future products and services that match customers’ needs more accurately. We invest to leverage from the digital strength of Baania; and our confidence is boosted by the fact that Baania has been invested by Krungsri Finnovate. We strongly believe that Baania will continue its momentum of success in the future”.
"THS Group is confident that Baania’s AI system and database will power up its sales and distribution network, especially in the auto parking system, the industry in which it is recognised as the leader in Thailand. Such database will also optimise other businesses of the company, namely import of construction materials, which is innovation-driven, building mechanical and electrical system (M&E), and facility management and operational management (FM & OM). Such investment is therefore an essential move of the group to venture into digital transformation with an AI and big data expert as the partner. We focus on strengthening our tech ability and are ready to invest with tech experts, both in property and other industries.” Vorathep added.
