AsiaPaperMarkets.com gets S$10m in funding

AsiaPaperMarkets.com gets S$10m in funding

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): AsiaPaperMarkets.com, an online pulp and paper marketplace, has received S$10 million (US$5.8 million) in first-round funding from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, AsiaTech Ventures and AsiaCommerce, the venture's shareholders, according to a press release by AsiaPaperMarkets.com Wednesday.

Billing itself as "Asia's first neutral digital marketplace" for the pulp and paper industry, AsiaPaperMarkets.com was founded in 1999 and focuses on Asia, including Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Africa. The enterprise is headquartered in Singapore.

AsiaPaperMarkets.com is expecting a second round of funds in "six months to a year", said Varadarajan Krishnan, director of the online marketplace, adding the company will "at the best" needs two to three rounds of investments.

He said the company plans to go public in two to three years. The online exchange said it aims to be the top among its kind in the region and account for "at least" half of all online transactions for raw materials and finished products by 2003.

In contrast to the U.S. and Europe, the Asian pulp and paper market is "highly fragmented with more than 100,000 companies, diverse quality requirements and business practices."

"Inefficiencies in the supply chain have adversely impacted the profitability of many companies," according to the press release.

The Asian pulp and paper industry is currently estimated to be valued at approximately US$200 billion and is expected to grow more than 5 percent annually over the next decade.

Founded in 1999 and based in Hong Kong, AsiaCommerce provides funding for companies in the e-commerce sector.

AsiaTech Ventures is a technology fund that focuses on the information technology and Internet industries.