SUMMARY

Part of the Gkash Group of Companies, Gkash Sdn. Bhd. is a fintech startup that provides payment solutions to businesses, with a special focus on SMEs. We are fully licensed to provide payment solutions by Bank Negara Malaysia, MasterCard International, and various other oversight bodies.

We are a B2B business helping merchants process both online and offline payments; therefore, the average consumer will probably have little knowledge about us. However, if they use cashless payments, they unconsciously encounter our solutions every single day. A few examples include:

• Paying for groceries with a contactless credit card

• Scanning a QR code to pay via e-wallet when buying a drink from a vending machine

• Making an FPX transfer to pay for an online purchase

Recently, we also introduced an e-wallet service for overseas tourists.

Advantages Over Established Players

Instead of our comprehensive payment solutions, which are already similar in scope to those offered by established players, we distinguish ourselves from peers with:

• User-friendly interfaces easily mastered by even beginners

• Simplifying integration with other systems as much as possible

• Making our services more affordable by becoming a Technology Service Provider under the SME Business Digitalisation Grant

Our commitment to fulfilling merchants’ needs has won us a loyal client base numbering 8,000 merchants despite not conducting a single marketing campaign. We have also earned the trust of some of the biggest names in fintech, such as Touch ‘n Go, which collaborated with us on 2 travel and tourism-related projects.

Way Forward

We are currently valued at US$11.25 million and aim to double that to US$22.5 million by 2024. To accomplish that, we are raising RM5 million from this ECF exercise, a significant portion of which will be spent on our very first marketing campaign to attract as many new users as possible.

We are confident of success due to:

• An asset-light, highly scalable business model

• Steady income year-round, with limited downside during economic downturns and considerable upside during economic booms

• Surging demand for cashless payments from consumes, which will spur merchants to sign up for our payment solutions

• Strong venture capitalist interest in fintech startups like ours

PROBLEM

SMEs Lack the Resources to Digitalise, Despite Tangible Benefits

Digitalisation is undoubtedly of great value to SMEs. Research from Huawei Technologies shows SMEs that adopt advanced digital technologies, such as data analytics, stand to enjoy a productivity gain of up to 60%. Regrettably, SMEs make up only 25% of businesses that have achieved advanced digitalisation despite accounting for 98% of business establishments in Malaysia. As a result, much of their growth potential remains unfulfilled.

The main reasons cited by Malaysian SMEs for being unable to advance beyond basic digitisation (e.g. using Excel spreadsheets instead of paper documents to keep financial records) include:

Skills Shortages. 48% of SMEs stated they were unable to hire staff with the necessary skillsets to manage advanced back-end operating systems, which is in line with data indicating low digital literacy rates among Malaysians. While the vast majority of Malaysians possess basic digital skills, a mere 15% are equipped with the advanced skills in demand among SMEs seeking to digitalise.

Financial Constraints. 50% of SMEs attributed slow progress to a lack of funding, pointing out they were forced to delay many capacity-building programmes after suffering income losses during the pandemic. Although the Malaysian government introduced multiple initiatives to assist SMEs with obtaining funding, such as the flagship Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) SME Business Digitalisation Grant, 60% of SMEs had no knowledge about such initiatives and thus did not apply.

SOLUTION

Gkash Helps SMEs Prepare for Omnichannel Retail

A key advantage of digitalisation is allowing SMEs to make use of online retail channels to sell their products and services on e-commerce platforms, mobile applications, social media networks, and much more, in addition to the usual offline retail channels. However, omnichannel retail is not without its challenges: SMEs must prepare the infrastructure to accept payments from all channels and ensure sales are properly recorded in existing systems (e.g. accounting, inventory management) without exceeding their budget. This is where Gkash comes in.

Gkash, as our name implies, is a fintech pioneer providing digital payment solutions to businesses of all sizes, with a special focus on empowering SMEs to achieve their own digitalisation goals. Our innovative Payment-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution, one of only a few in Malaysia, helps SMEs:

• Easily set up their own e-commerce stores

• Accept a wide range of cashless payments from both online and offline retail channels

• Seamlessly integrate our payment solutions with other business process management software via API or SDK to ensure accurate record-keeping and preserve data for business intelligence purposes

PRODUCT

PaaS: Processing Cashless Payments Anytime, Anywhere

Our proprietary PaaS solution encompasses both the hardware and the software merchants require to collect, process, receive, and record payments from customers, regardless of whether a transaction is conducted remotely or in person. Its functionality is comparable to that of payment solutions developed by established players, with the added bonus of being more user-friendly and easily integrated via API.

In-Person Transactions

Payment Terminals. Gkash is one of a handful of non-bank payment solutions providers in Malaysia licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to issue its own payment terminals, which are the electronic devices used by merchants to collect card payments for in-person transactions. Our payment terminals are capable of processing payments from all major credit, debit, and prepaid card issuers, as well as all e-wallets commonly used in Malaysia.

We provide 2 types of payment terminals for use in different settings:

Phone as Payment Terminal. We have developed a truly revolutionary mobile application known as Gkash Business that, when downloaded, transforms any smart device, such as a smartphone, into a payment terminal capable of accepting both card and e-wallet payments. This is how it works:

Remote Transactions

Apart from Gkash Business, we have developed a web application that allows merchants to quickly set up their own e-commerce stores, complete with card, e-wallet, and FPX payment acceptance channels. Certain functions that are also available on Gkash Business are market with an asterisk (*).

API Integration

We distinguish ourselves from industry peers by going the extra mile to ensure our payment solutions are easily integrated with other types of business process management software, which saves our clients the tedious work of manually extracting, sorting, and re-entering transaction data into other systems. For API integration, clients may choose from any of these 3 options:

Gkash E-Wallet for Overseas Tourists

We have acquired an electronic money issuer license from BNM that allows us to issue our very own Gkash e-wallet just like established players such as GrabPay, Touch ’n Go (TnG), and Boost. However, our intention is not to compete with established players with a firm hold on the local market; instead, we intend to promote the Gkash e-wallet to overseas tourists as a simple, hassle-free method of paying for products and services during their stay in Malaysia.

TRACTION

Signed Up 8,000 Merchants on Zero Marketing Costs. Since we launched our solutions in mid-2019, we have not engaged in any marketing efforts; rather, the first few merchants who adopted our PaaS solutions were so pleased at the results that they voluntarily promoted us to their business contacts. Over the last few years, we managed to sign up 8,000 merchants based on word-of-mouth advertising alone, which is a great testament to our ability to deliver solutions that fulfil market needs.

Winner of the 2017 SME100 Awards Malaysia. In our early growth stage, prior to launching our signature PaaS and e-wallet solutions, we entered the 2017 SME100 Awards Malaysia, where the judges were sufficiently impressed by our vision and innovation to name us one of the 100 winners of that year. We have grown considerably since then and now aim to raise RM 5 million to accelerate growth even further.

Numerous Public and Private Sector Partnerships. Despite being a relatively new business, we quickly proved our capabilities to and won the trust of multiple well-known public and private sector entities, which then readily agreed to collaborate with us on various initiatives to promote economic growth and support vulnerable demographics. Examples include:

Appointed a Technology Service Provider by MDEC. We fulfilled all criteria to be appointed a Technology Service Provider (TSP) for the SME Business Digitalisation Grant by MDEC. This is significant as it subsidises digitalisation costs for SMEs that purchase or subscribe to our services, which will in turn help us attract more cost-conscious prospective clients who might be hesitant to engage us otherwise.

CUSTOMERS

Simplifying Payment Processing and Record-Keeping for All Businesses

Our PaaS solution is an indispensable tool for any business seeking to grow post-pandemic by leveraging all available retail channels while minimising time-consuming processes (e.g. manual data entry) that waste precious time and resources. While beneficial to all types of businesses, our PaaS solution is particularly helpful to SMEs, home-based sellers, and merchants from rural areas of B40 backgrounds by solving the challenges they commonly face:

BUSINESS MODEL

Evergreen Business With Steady Income Year-Round. We primarily derive income from charging merchants a small fee known in financial circles as the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on each transaction processed using our payment solutions. As the merchants using our PaaS solution come from all economic sectors, we are insulated from the effects of a downturn in any single industry – even if multiple industries experience downturns simultaneously, we can still earn MDR from merchants in numerous other sectors, ensuring steady income-year round.

We supplement our revenue from collecting MDR with:

Asset-Light Business Model Enhances Scalability. Excluding our payment terminals, all of our capital assets are digital in nature, allowing us to save on the significant costs associated with purchasing and maintaining physical assets. This has 2 positive effects: firstly, lower costs translate into higher profit margins and better cash flow, which improves our financial position; secondly, not needing to invest large sums in physical assets means it costs less for us to expand to other markets in the future, making us less reliant on external financing compared to asset-heavy peers.

MARKET

Surging Demand for Cashless Payment Methods. In a positive development for us, the number of cashless transactions made by Malaysian consumers, both online and offline, has skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to increasing e-commerce uptake and concerns about hygiene. This was confirmed by a recent survey from Visa, which showed that payments made via QR code (+60%), e-wallet (+54%), and contactless cards (+51%) all rose in 2021 compared to 2020, with 55% of consumers stating they had gone at least one week without using cash.

Previous Industry Successes Set a Promising Precedent. A favourite of venture capitalists, fintech startups have traditionally enjoyed higher valuations and more funding than other types of startups. The Singaporean fintech startup HitPay, which offers very similar services and which recently concluded Series A fundraising, is a prime example: with a client base of 10,000 (compared to our 8,000), they raised US$15.75 million, which is much higher than the RM5 million we seek from this exercise. We are confident of matching or even exceeding HitPay’s impressive fundraising figures in our Series A round once we utilise our ECF proceeds to massively grow our client base.

COMPETITION

API Integration is Not an Afterthought. In terms of functionality, our PaaS solution is comparable with those offered by established payment solution providers. We are by no means inferior to them – in fact, we arguably have an edge when it comes to winning over prospective clients due to our focus on enabling seamless integration between our solutions and other back or front-end systems our clients may already use. Given a choice between 2 systems with the same functionality and the same price range, merchants will definitely choose the one that is more easily integrated with other systems for greater convenience.

At present, the only major payment solution provider operating in Malaysia that shares our emphasis on systems integration is Stripe, the globally-renowned fintech unicorn. Nonetheless, we still retain an advantage over Stripe as they have yet to introduce solutions for in-person transactions in Malaysia, making us the industry player with the most comprehensive, user-friendly solutions locally as shown in the table below:

FUNDING

We seek to raise RM5 million in this fundraising exercise based on a pre-money valuation of US$11.25 million to be utilised as follows:

EXIT

We are open to all possible exit avenues including an IPO or a trade sale. ECF investors may also opt to exit when we fundraise for our Series A, B, and C rounds.

VISION

To empower SMEs, especially micro enterprises, home-based sellers, and rural and B40 merchants to take advantage of the full range of business opportunities available in the 21st century by providing them with the necessary payment infrastructure.

MISSION

To develop innovative, comprehensive, and affordable online and offline payment solutions that simplify payment collection, processing, settlement and reporting for SMEs.

TEAM

PRESS

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/suic-beneway-welcomes-partners-directors-100000514.html

https://www.ttgasia.com/2020/10/14/malaysia-budget-hotels-aim-to-boost-occupancy-through-digitalisation/

https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2020/01/649128/terminal-bas-akan-laksana-sistem-beli-tiket-tanpa-tunai

DISCLAIMERS

• No shares will be allotted or issued based on this document after six months from the closing of the offer period.

• This issue, offer or invitation for the offering is a proposal not requiring authorisation of the Securities Commission under section 212(8) of the CMSA 2007.

• This document has not been reviewed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. The Securities Commission does not recommend nor assumes responsibility for any information including any statement, opinion or report disclosed in relation to this fund raising exercise and makes no representation as to its accuracy or completeness. The Securities Commission expressly disclaims any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the information disclosed.