Super app platform Appboxo Raises $1.1 Million in seed funding to enable any app to become a super app

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• Appboxo has secured USD 1.1 million in seed funding led by FF APAC Scout, a Founders Fund scout vehicle, 500 Startups Southeast Asia focused 500 Durians fund, Plug and Play Ventures, and
• Appboxo’s platform enables any app in India to become a super app. The Singapore-based company aims to revitalize the mobile app industry, scale its platform and further develop its proprietary technology.
• In India, all major mobile wallets like Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe launched their own miniapp platforms. Tata Group is also reported to be working on it’s own Super App.
• Founded in 2019, Appboxo provides integration software that allows the launching of miniapps within any native super apps. Through such integrations, Appboxo aims to act as a link and create an ecosystem of interconnected miniapps, allowing for global partnerships across industries.
• To date, the startup counts Booking.com, Klook, Zalora, and multiple other global companies as their partners.

Appboxo has secured USD 1.1 million in seed funding led by FF APAC Scout, a Founders Fund scout vehicle, 500 Startups Southeast Asia focused 500 Durians fund, Plug and Play Ventures, and Antler. Appboxo platform enables any app to become a super app by providing integration software to allow the launching of miniapps within other native super apps. Through such integrations, Appboxo aims to act as a link and create an ecosystem of interconnected miniapps, allowing for global partnerships across industries.

The Singapore-based company Appboxo aims to revitalize (revolutionise?) the mobile app industry, scale its platform and further develop its proprietary technology with this round of funding. The  startup counts Booking.com, Klook, Zalora, and multiple other global companies as their partners.

Appboxo was established in 2019 by founders Kaniyet Rayev (CEO) and Nursultan Keneshbekov (CTO) through the Antler Singapore program. For example, by using Appboxo, mobile wallet platforms can integrate e-commerce and lifestyle apps such as food delivery and restaurant reservation services under their umbrella, ride-hailing and lifestyle apps can include financial services on their platforms; and media companies can partner with e-commerce services.

“Appboxo is in a unique position to revolutionise the mobile app space via its platform. India is the second country in the world widely adopting miniapps as a new digital channel after China. PhonePe, Paytm and Google Pay all launched their own miniapp platforms and show good results in terms of miniapp engagement and adoption. Our vision is to democratise this space and enable any app in India to become a super app and offer multiple services via our platform. We are excited to continue growing our platform with new partners across industries,” explains Kaniyet.

There is an importance and growing reliance on mobile apps in emerging markets which presents a significant opportunity for Appboxo and its partners. According to Appboxo’s CEO Kaniyet, companies in regional markets such as Indonesia might miss out on opportunities for integrative technology such as Mini Programs (lightweight applications running within host apps), which was pioneered by WeChat and later picked up by other giants such as Alipay, Baidu, and Bytedance. Appboxo platform fills this gap in the market and is suited to meet the growing trend and demand for facilitating the integration of third party services within apps.

“Many companies have lots of users, but need additional ways to properly engage and monetize them, while many smaller apps have the opposite problem. Connecting these players through a miniapp ecosystem is a gigantic win-win situation, but right now only the largest tech companies can afford to invest the necessary resources to build out their own miniapp ecosystem. I’m excited to back a team who understands both the tech and the business side of these dynamics and who are stepping up to build a gigantic cross platform miniapp ecosystem.” said Jeff Lonsdale of FF APAC Scout.

Appboxo also partnered with major enterprise partners such as banks, telcos and mobile wallets to turn their apps into super apps.

“We are excited to work with excellent founders to help them realise their vision of disrupting the tech industry. Appboxo is well primed to facilitate global partnerships between companies in various industries. In the current market of super apps such as WeChat and Alipay, Appboxo offers the opportunity for any app to follow in their footsteps. This would cater to the growing consumer need for an efficient and integrated user experience,” says Vishal Harnal, General Partner, 500 Startups.

Alireza Masrour, Plug and Play Ventures, General Partner: “We love the vision that the Appboxo team has, which is to be a Global Distribution System (GDS) for Miniapps that helps globalize app capabilities with their inner connectivity services for any major application in the market.”

“This trend in superapps has been growing but only very large players have been able to create such integrated massive platforms. Appboxo is leading the way to democratise this space and let smaller businesses leverage on the super app phenomenon,” says Jussi Salovaara, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Antler.

Appboxo plans to use raised funds to scale its platform and further develop its proprietary technology. Appboxo plans to add new miniapps in travel, ecommerce, finance and lifestyle industries to cover more use cases for integrations by super apps.

About Appboxo:

Appboxo is a Singapore-based technology company that connects miniapps to super apps and powers the integration between them. Appboxo Platform allows apps to offer multiple third-party services and increase revenue by generating commissions from each transaction. Appboxo partners with large consumer apps across the Southeast Asia market.

About FF APAC Scout, a Founders Fund scout vehicle:

FF APAC Scout is Founders Fund’s APAC-focused scout vehicle which enables investors to back promising startups. Led by Peter Thiel, Founders Fund is a global, San Francisco based venture capital firm. Notable investments include SpaceX, Facebook, and Palantir.

About 500 Startups:

500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Durians family of funds. The 500 Durians funds have backed over 200 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

About Plug and Play Ventures:

Plug and Play Ventures is an early-stage VC and corporate innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley with 26 locations around the world. It invests across different industries and supports promising and innovative startups by connecting them to investors and corporations around the world. As of 2020, it has over 1000 portfolio companies which raised a total of $10 billion, and accelerates 1450 startups per year. Some of Plug and Play’s noteworthy investments include Paypal, Honey, Kustomer, N26, and Dropbox.

About Antler:

Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. The firm has offices in eleven cities worldwide, across six continents. Founded in Singapore in 2017, Antler is on a mission to fundamentally improve the world by enabling and investing in the world’s most exceptional people. Since its launch, Antler has invested in and helped build over 200 companies. Several of these early-stage startups have since secured follow-on investment by top-tier VCs, such as Sequoia and Golden Gate. Of these companies, over 40% have at least one female co-founder, and the founders represent over 60 nationalities. Antler enables exceptional people to build impactful technology startups by building complementary teams, supporting the teams with deep business model validation, and by providing a global platform for scaling their startups.

Contact:

Kaniyet Rayev

E: kani@appboxo.com

T: +447541889580 (WhatsApp)