PurelyB has been curating health and wellness content specifically for the Asian lifestyle since 2015.
This platform led by an all female team has certainly paved a path for themselves.
They impressed 500 Startups, bagging them US$500K from the VC. They’ve also amassed 1.3 million users spanning Asia Pacific.
Now, PurelyB is gunning towards becoming the top funded startup ever in SEA via equity crowdfunding (ECF).
The end goal? RM2.7 million.
Anyone can jump on board with a minimum of RM500.
“Most ECF campaigns set the minimum investment at RM2000,” said Jesrina.
“However we really wanted to give a chance to our member community. At RM2K minimum investment, we knew it may still be too high for some users to contribute even though they are keen on investing.”
“Thus RM500 to us was a good low ‘entry’ accessible enough not just for our community members but even for all Malaysians to be able to participate and enjoy long-term benefits of this investment.”
Even though they want to be the largest funded startup in SEA, the team actually started out with a relatively low minimum.
In fact, PurelyB already began their ECF campaign, opening it up to only members. They hoped to gain at least RM300,000.
What they received instead was RM1.3million from members worldwide.
“Honestly, we really had no idea what the response would be like when we first kicked-off this equity crowdfunding campaign.” Jesrina told Vulcan Post.
“We knew we had a pretty large fanbase, but whether or not these fans and members would actively participate in investing in PurelyB for equity and rewards, was largely uncertain.”
They realised that what helped them gain this conversion from members to investors “was the emotional connection we had built with our members thus far, and how we had made an impact in helping to improve their quality of health.”
“Our members believe in us because we have touched their lives in some way and they want to be a part of our growth journey. We are extremely grateful for this special bond that we have created with our community members and hope to strengthen these connections as we expand to greater heights.”
– Jesrina Arshad
After giving their community first dibs, PurelyB began to publicise this ECF round to the masses, in hopes that some like-minded public would fund them towards their goals.
The funds will be used for their growth and expansion plans across 5 new markets Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Middle East and Australia.
But that’s not all they’re doing.
Since the core of their business is digital content and community, the market expansion can be kept lean.
After all, they don’t need to manage logistics, nor have retail presence or manufacture goods.
“This can help eliminate a lot of the barriers to entry in these markets,” said Jesrina.
The PurelyB team is also looking into further personalisation of their content.
The team is going to be using up the funds to build a new platform—utilising data capture management capabilities, and technology that will be more content-focused.
This way, they’re able to curate more personalised content and services to users.
“This is so important as health is a very personal experience and need,” said Jesrina.
Previously, PurelyB’s monetisation cames from expert vetting and selling other brands’ products. But they felt that their strength lies in their content offerings, and have decided to zoom into that instead.
The enriched content they had in mind will include:
- An “extensive library” including a series of health programme videos co-created with wellness experts. This includes meal plans, recipes, trackers, podcasts, community group chats and activities, localised to the Asian lifestyle.
- Live and interactive programmes with the community and experts through webinars and on-ground events.
- An online subscription for this extensive library of holistic wellness videos and programmes.
PurelyB also sees ECF crowdfunding as a marketing tool to gain exposure and visibility, particularly with potential strategic partners across the regions they’re interested in.
They think this outcome as positive so far. It will also be a win for women in tech if they hit their goal, which the team sees as an added bonus.
Feature Image Credit: Screenshot from the PurelyB Crowdfunding video.
