Proptech platform APLUS has successfully raised a capital investment of US$ 2 million for the Seed Round - 1st tranche

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 19, 2022, the real estate technology platform Proptech APLUS, launched by Beta Group, announced the successful funding of US$ 2 million, led by Asia Business Builder (ABBPE FundCo) investment fund for the seed round (1st tranche). Besides Protech APLUS, various other investment funds including Ventek, Crossfund, Sketchnote Partners, Ikarus Ventures and several angel investors participated in this round.

Being the pioneer in developing the Plus-Living model in Southeast Asia, Mr. Bui Quang Minh, CEO and Founder of APLUS, stated: "APLUS platform is the application of technology to develop large-scale solutions of housing services with the purpose of delivering community value to young residents at a reasonable cost. APLUS creates quality standard living spaces with outstanding advantages."

The APLUS apartment service is able to fulfill all tenants' needs with the cost from only US$ 200 /studio/month (equivalent to US$ 100 /person/month). With this price, tenants are guaranteed a comfortable living space, clean, hygienic and optimal furniture and facilities. Besides this, in order to retain tenants, the professional management team at APLUS apartments is ready to support residents 24/7 with arising problems. APLUS wishes to improve the spiritual life of tenants in every living space, and at the same time, facilitate landlords to manage their apartments easily.

In 2022, the raised investment will be spent on developing technology platforms to optimize the resident experience as well as building the Property Management System (PMS) to help property owners manage daily operations and capture more demand. In addition, APLUS is also scaling its franchising model in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

• For tenants: Tenants are able to quickly search and book room tours on APLUS platform, easily perform the renting process and pay rent. Additionally, tenants can also get updated on various incentives & offers, as well as connecting with the resident community
• For landlords (franchise partner): APLUS provides a Property Management System (PMS) - which facilitates landlords to easily monitor the operation process, manage customer data, optimize pricing to increase revenue and control expenditure based on real-time reports, etc.

The origin story

The extensive experience of operating and raising capital investment for Beta Cinemas (a cinema chain with 14 cinemas and nearly 60 screens nationwide) is seen as one of the solid launchpads for the success of the APLUS platform. In 2020, Mr. Bui Quang Minh and his team successfully raised USD 8 million from Daiwa PI Partners fund with a business valuation of VND 1000 billion, after 2 previous rounds of funding from Blue HK and Vietnam Investments Group.

The success of Beta cinema motivates Mr. Minh - CEO of Beta Cinemas and also the composer and performer of the song "Viet Nam Oi!" - to pursue more ambitious goals with the purpose of bringing broader impacts to society. With his love for the country, he has developed APLUS as an optimized and affordable living solution for the young generation of Vietnam.

The serviced apartment chain model for students and fresh graduates - APLUS has been in his plan for a long time, since he started to learn and know more about how young people struggle to manage their life in modern society.

Young people between the ages of 22-32 can only spend 2-3 million on accommodation and often have to trade off their living quality in order to save for their future. The founder of APLUS has shared many stories about young people's difficulty in renting rooms such as poor quality accommodation not only in terms of facilities but also other services, unnecessary expenses or even being unreasonably kicked out of their rooms. He believes that the young generation is the future of the country, thus, they need to be taken care of more by society, so that they can have a clean and civilized place to live. This will also raise their self-esteem and motivate them to make more contributions to the country.

After undertaking several rounds of market research and analysis, the APLUS model has been built, marking the milestone of a new real estate business under Beta Group. Mr. Minh also spoke in the press conference about his dream of bringing APLUS platform and product to other countries in the region and the world, so that the pride of Vietnam is truly affirmed.