2015年4月9日

關注@legendt除了便宜的購物和沙灘，泰國還以其工匠社區而聞名，他們製作可愛的傳統藝術和手工藝品。Blisby是一個在線市場，希望將這些泰國手工藝人與現代世界聯係起來，今天宣布在一輪由East Ventures領投的融資中籌集了30萬美元(披露:East Ventures是Tech in Asia的投資者之一)。更多信息請參閱我們的道德頁麵)和DeNA, 500 Startups的兩個亞洲中心基金也加入了500輛Tuk Tuks和500輛榴蓮。就像Etsy一樣，Blisby的用戶可以直接在其網站上購買和出售他們的手工製品。Etsy目前正在尋求上市，融資約3億美元。當然，區別在於後者是高度本地化的——整個網站都是泰語。這筆新注入的資金將用於向鄰國擴張，特別是印度尼西亞和馬來西亞，以及開發新功能，推廣Blisby賣家及其產品。今年3月，它的月活躍用戶達到35萬，月瀏覽量超過100萬，環比增長率為20%。這是一個非常不錯的數字，因為該平台剛剛推出四個月。然而，Blisby創始人普瓦多·通塔沃恩(Phuvadol Thongthavorn)拒絕透露其商品總銷量。Blisby的創始人Phuvadol Thongthavorn豎起了大拇指。 Thongthavorn admits that he was surprised at the amount of user engagement happening on the ecommerce platform. “You can see it with the number of shares and conversations on our properties […] When you have word-of-mouth and conversations happening, it’s a sign that you are providing something of value,” he says. Several hundreds of users have written in to thank the Blisby team, saying that “Thailand has needed something like this for so long.” Such gestures, coupled with good traction, have gone a long way in confirming Thongthavorn’s initial observation that the “strong uprising of contemporary Thai artists on top of the already rich cultural arts” would lead to increasing demand for a community “where old and new ideas intersect.” “In fact, when I first started hiring employees, I saw that there were more art graduates than computer and engineering graduates,” he says. “I thought if I could build this online community and equip them with the right tools, I can step aside and the community would nurture itself.” The Blisby team hard at work. With these numbers in hand, getting such a stellar line-up of investors onboard was a piece of cake. “James Riney from DeNA was the first person to call me, and within three days he brought in the rest of the investors,” Thongthavorn recalls. “Willson from East Ventures followed up, and within three days sent me a termsheet. Both were really fast and fair, and they put an importance on getting things done quickly so that I can get back to focusing on the company.” “The model is obviously not a new one, but what stood out about Blisby was the CEO. When I invest in a company, I like to ask myself whether I would want to work for the founder. In Phuvadol’s case, the answer was yes, definitely,” says James Riney, principal at DeNA’s venture capital arm. The cherry on the cake was Blisby’s acceptance into the Google Developers Startup Launch program in February, which saw it receiving US$100,000 in Google Cloud Platform credits and mentoring as well. Thongthavorn sees it as validation that they are on the right track. The Thai founder claims that there aren’t any artisan-specific marketplaces in Southeast Asia who can compete with Blisby at the moment. “Generally speaking, there are many marketplaces and platforms that artisans can sell on though,” he says. “In fact, many of Blisby’s Sellers also sell on other platforms including Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram. So it ultimately comes down to providing value and features to our users.” Thongthavorn reveals that the team is building an English version of the website as well, in order to expand its sales internationally. Marketplaces are by no means easy to manage. For one, the team will have to keep both sides – the buyers and the sellers – happy in order for it to work out. At the same time, revenue is driven by active consumers, and even Etsy hasn’t turned a profit to date , making losses of up to US$15 million. In order to take over Southeast Asia, the team will have to find ways to keep both parties coming – not an easy task. Editing by Terence Lee and Josh Horwitz Blisby.com is the premier and only handmade and craft marketplace in Southeast Asia Location