Singapore-based business equipment startup iMin Technology secured a multi-million-dollar pre-Series A financing round from investors, including former Midea and ZTE executives. Founded in 2018, the company focuses on commercial internet-of-things applications, providing small businesses in Southeast Asia with solutions such as point-of-sale terminals and QR code scanners.
iMin’s founder and CEO, Hu Aimin, has 18 years of experience in the electronics industry. He noticed how consumer electronics had a short life cycle and sought to build products with a more sustainable long-term model with iMin. He explained how the startup’s products are crucial to facilitating a digital transition for many small and medium-sized enterprises that are embracing the surging demand for digitization as a result of the pandemic.
Currently, the company targets retail and catering industries in Southeast Asia, where merchants have already started to embrace online channels. While the digital economies of the 11 Southeast Asian countries are all at different stages in their development, Hu believes that tech will inevitably promote business progress. Accelerated by the pandemic, the market value for POS terminals in Southeast Asia is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.4% from 2021 to 2026.
Vendors are increasingly looking for more sophisticated smart POS terminals, which can handle multiple payment streams in a variety of scenarios. To this end, iMin offers desktop and mobile POS terminals, as well as self-checkout kiosks while also supporting QR codes.
The firm’s research and development team in Shenzhen accounts for about half of iMin’s total headcount and coordinates with its headquarters in Singapore for product design strategy. iMin’s overseas presence includes seven international sales branches, which market the company’s products, including iMin UI, iMin Platform, and iMinBiz to enterprise clients in their respective locations.
The company expects sales in 2021 to exceed USD 10 million amid booming demand, while iMin’s founder Hu is keen to explore new markets in Southeast and South Asia before eventually expanding to Europe and Latin America.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content published by 36Kr. This article was originally written by 36Kr Chuhai.