FastCo announced that it has successfully raised S$10.5 million in its Series A funding round. FastCo is the company behind FastJobs, Southeast Asia’s top non-executive job portal for both job-seekers and employers, and FastGig, Singapore’s first flexi-work recruitment app.
In the extended Series A round, Malaysia-based investment firm, OSK Ventures International (OSKVI) led the funding that raised a total investment of S$4.7million into FastCo with participation from existing investor Cento Ventures and new investor Kairous Capital.
Cento, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology start-ups in Southeast Asia, came on board with S$5.8 million of funds during the initial Series A round in December 2021 and participated in the Founder and management-led buy-out of FastCo from then SGX-listed Singapore Press Holdings (“SPH”).
Commenting on the latest funding, Julian Tan, Founder & CEO of FastCo, said, “Both OSKVI and Kairous are strategic partners who will strengthen our expansion efforts in Malaysia, where we aim to double down on the underserved B40 market.”
Amelia Ong, Executive Director and CEO of OSKVI said, “We believe FastCo will play a key role in facilitating the growth and success of this new sector for Malaysia where 26 percent of our local workers already belong to the gig economy.”
Since completion of the buy-out exercise in 2021, the Group has experienced steady growth. To date, across all its operating markets, the platform has registered more than 4.4 million jobseekers across all operating markets, with an average of 500,000 monthly active users. These jobseekers have access to more than 20,000 jobs from verified employers, including big players in the retail, food & beverages and logistics industries.
More recently in 2022, FastCo officially launched its flexi-work platform, FastGig, enabling access to flexible work opportunities beyond conventional part-time or full-time employment. To date, FastGig has worked with dozens of businesses to plug their staffing gaps, fulfilling over 500,000 man-hours since its inception.
The latest fund injection will support FastCo’s plans to make deeper inroads into the regional markets with a focus on fortifying its marketing initiatives and growing its sales and product development teams.
