Great Deals e-Commerce Corp., the Philippines' leading e-commerce enabler, said Wednesday it raised $30 million (P1.4 billion) in Series B funding round.
The funding round was led by Fast Group, a leading logistics firm in the Philippines with the support from CVC Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest global private equity firms with $118 billion in assets under management.
Navegar, a private equity firm that infused $12-million Series A fund into Great Deals, also contributed to the funding round. The transaction was advised by Rocket Equities.
The definitive agreements were signed by Steve Sy, founder and chief executive of Great Deals; William Chiongbian II, president and chief executive of Fast Group; and Javier Infante, managing partner of Navegar, along with their management teams and advisors.
“The Fast Group sees a lot of synergies with Great Deals in building capability. We are privileged to contribute to the growth of Philippine e-commerce, as it relies heavily on a strong supply chain backbone,” Chiongbian said.
“We are thrilled to be teaming up with Steve and Great Deals, the country's largest e-Commerce enabler. We envision strategic collaborations between Great Deal's high-growth e-Commerce solutions and Fast’s leading position in Philippine logistics. This partnership also marks Fast’s first M&A transaction since CVC’s investment less than six months ago,” said Brice Cu, managing director and head in the Philippines of CVC Capital Partners.
Great Deals said it would deploy the new capital in tech development and the construction of an automated state-of-the-art fulfillment center which are both critical to meet the growing demand in e-commerce and to level-up the game in customer experience.
“We love a good challenge. We recognize that Philippine logistics is by far the toughest across the ASEAN region and remains to impede our e-Commerce penetration outside GMA. With this funding and strategic support from our new investors, this opens new opportunities to drive forward instant commerce –delivery under one hour, wherever you are. We can reach and serve more Filipinos faster and safer. That is the next big thing that can boost further the digital economy in our country,” Sy said.
Sy founded Great Deals in 2014 after spending years as an entrepreneur in the retail and e-commerce sectors.
He identified a stark need to enable entrepreneurs like himself to succeed in this new space.
With Sy’s bootstrapping style, Great Deals grew into a multi billion-peso company, posting four-fold growth in 2020. Its enviable list of global brand partners includes Abbott, L’Oréal, Unilever, Nestle, Samsonite, GSK, Bayer and Fila, among others.
Great Deals offers end-to-end business solutions ranging from digital marketing, content creation, storefront management, web design, business analytics and customer service to warehousing and peak-scaling fulfillment.