HeveaConnect, the 49.9%-owned associate of SGX-listed Halcyon Agri, has completed its fourth round of fundraising on July 25.
The latest round of fundraising, which is led by Provident Capital, DeClout Ventures and the management of HeveaConnect, values HeveaConnect at a pre-money valuation of US$19.4 million ($26.9 million).
HeveaConnect will receive US$5.5 million via the issuance of new shares to its new investors.
At the same time, Halcyon Agri will conduct a secondary share sale to Provident of 32,218 shares for a cash consideration of US$1.6 million. The fundraising will thus reduce Halcyon Agri’s stake in HeveaConnect to 32.4%.
“We have incubated HeveaConnect as a corporate venture together with our other founding shareholders and supported it through its infancy stage. The initial phase was challenging for HeveaConnect as it faced resistance to change. However, since the pandemic, there has been an increase in technology adoption and HeveaConnect’s sustainability suite of tools have gained traction with key customers within the industry,” says Ng Eng Kiat, managing director of Halcyon Agri’s global tyre major platform.
“We are happy to see the traction that the HeveaConnect platform has gained as it has always been our vision to leverage digital technology efficiencies by creating an industry platform to improve our trading process of physical natural rubber. HeveaConnect is now poised to excel in its next phase of growth,” he adds.
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Further to his statement, Ng welcomed HeveaConnect’s new shareholders, saying both Provident and DeClout Ventures have “extensive experience in technology investments, innovation and strong commitment to ESG [or environmental, social and governance]”.
“We strongly believe that ESG and technology are key success factors to future-proof a business. We look forward to greater engagement and higher adoption rate on HeveaConnect platform from our fellow natural rubber industry players,” he says.
Ray Ferguson, chairman of HeveaConnect says, “This successful fundraising round is a testament to market’s confidence on HeveaConnect’s direction and strong execution capabilities. With the inclusion of Provident and DeClout, we have diversified our shareholding structure to include venture capitalists that can contribute strategically to HeveaConnect’s future growth.”
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“I strongly believe in the near future, HeveaConnect will be the preferred platform for merchandising sustainable natural rubber, and this successful model may be replicated to other agri-commodities facing similar issues as natural rubber,” he adds.
HeveaConnect was founded in 2018 by Halcyon Agri to develop HeveaConnect platform, a digital marketplace for physical natural rubber.
Shares in Halcyon Agri closed at 21 cents on July 22.
