Vietnam-based food-tech startup established by Japanese mobilizes $7.8mn for business expansion
Vietnam-based food-tech startup established by Japanese mobilizes $7.8mn for business expansion
Kamereo, a Ho Chi Minh City-based food sourcing platform established by a Japanese person, has successfully mobilized US$7.8 million for business expansion.
A Kamereo employee checks its product quality. Photo: Supplied |
Kamereo, which is the food supplier for pizza chain Pizza 4P's, convenience chain Family Mart, Park Hyatt hotels, and El Gaucho steak restaurants, has raised some $15 million in its six years of operations.
This funding round was joined by many investors from Japan, such as Sumitomo Corporation, SMBC Venture Capital Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co. Ltd., and some personal investors.
Taku Tanaka, CEO of Kamereo, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) that the company had built relations with investors for one to two years so that they could understand the Vietnamese market and the company’s business model.
They have arrived in Vietnam to directly meet Kamereo’s staff and see its operations.
Vietnam’s food market is estimated at some $100 billion with an annual growth rate of over five percent.
Unlike Japan and the U.S., where wholesale companies and agricultural cooperatives dominate supply chains, Vietnam’s food market still depends on private distributors.
The Kamereo CEO voiced his belief in Kamereo’s potential to become a major part in the sector as there are no specific rivals in the Vietnamese market.
Nevertheless, Kamereo has still faced multiple challenges in capital, logistics, operation, and business growth.
“Most of these challenges depend on how we develop the company. We will continue developing the company with the Kaizen spirit as the core,” Tanaka noted.
Kaizen is a concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees.
According to Kamereo, the mobilized capital of $7.8 million will be used to expand its operations throughout Vietnam, recruit personnel, launch new services including the marketplace model, and improve its product portfolio.
Kamereo has expanded its operations to Hanoi since this month, besides the main market of Ho Chi Minh City.
To support this strategy, the firm has developed a daily refrigerated transport system connecting the north and the south of Vietnam and will build logistics and sales centers in the central region.
Hiroki Takeno, general manager of the retail strategic business unit at Sumitomo Corporation, said the corporation would cooperate with Kamereo through the Fujimart retail chain that it is operating in Hanoi.
Kamereo will also develop the business-to-business model to allow suppliers to store goods at its warehouses. It will be responsible for selling goods, delivery, and collecting money.
The firm has applied the model while collaborating with Gyomu Japan, which operates food supermarket chain Gyomu Super in Vietnam.
In particular, Gyomu Japan lists its 450 products on Kamereo’s platform, meeting the diversified demands of hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops.
Kamereo was established by Tanaka, a Japanese businessman, in 2018 after he left the post of Pizza 4P's chief operating officer.
Tanaka used to study in the U.S. and work in the finance sector before traveling around Southeast Asia and choosing Vietnam to begin his new journey.
