Southeast Asian mobile payment platform Fave says it has acquired two F&B online ordering startups to accelerate its growth in the region.
The two start-ups, called CutQ in Singapore and FoodTime in Malaysia, will help position Fave as the region’s one-stop solutions platform for merchants and their customers, Fave said in its announcement which didn’t disclose the fee.
“As the cost to operate restaurants increases and business owners face challenges to hire staff and increase productivity, we wanted to provide Table Ordering and Take Away pre-ordering solutions which will reduce these hurdles,” said Joel Neoh, Founder of Fave Group.
He added: “We saw an opportunity to leverage on the knowledge and technology that CutQ in Singapore and FoodTime in Malaysia have developed and are delighted to officially introduce their services as our next value-added service for our merchants and users. At Fave, we believe every business should be able to partake in the digital economy, and no one should be left behind because the cost is too high or the technology is too complex.”
Ng Aik Phong, Managing Director of Fave Singapore, said: “One of the biggest problems facing Singapore’s and Malaysia’s F&B and retail industry is an acute labor shortage. The lack of skilled labor, coupled with new government restrictions on foreign workers, poses one of the biggest growth challenges for both countries.”
“With Fave, merchants have experienced an impressive 70% increase in loyalty return rates from their customers as compared to the industry average of around 20%. Adding Table Ordering solutions is a step towards addressing what merchants in F&B need.”
Founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs Kevin Tan and Laura Chong-Tan, CutQ is a Singaporean food takeaway app that enables its users to skip queues and have their food ready for pickup. Across the Causeway, FoodTime is a mobile food ordering and delivery app founded by Ahmad Daleen in 2017.
Merchants that have signed up on Fave’s table ordering solution include Gelare, Paulaner Brauhaus, Saboten and Tingkat Peranakan in Singapore and Naughty Nuri’s, LOCO TTDI and Murni in Malaysia.
Max Ng, General Manager and Operations Manager at Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee, said: “We have been utilizing table ordering since 23 April 2019, and it has been a welcome addition to our business.”
“It helps us in cutting down the queues and shortening food waiting time which improves the customer experience.”
Fave says till now, its transactions have crossed the six million mark with the app downloaded over four million times. More than US$6 million worth of cashback issued to Singaporeans and Malaysians.
In 2018, Fave raised US$20 million in Series B funding led by investors Sequoia Capital, Venturra Capital and SIG Asia investment.
Fave says its focus will be to increase its market share through continued partnerships, expansion of new services, as well as broader and deeper efforts in merchant acquisition.
