Fynd receives US$385,000 in funding for on-demand phone repairs

Source: Fynd. The Fynd team: from left, Ian De La Cruz, CTO; Jack Leow, Chief Strategy Officer; Albert Tirtohadi, CEO; and Alex Devendran, COO.

Fynd, Singapore’s on-demand mobile device repair platform, has raised S$520,000 (US$385,000) in pre-Series A funding in a round led by Far East Ventures and supported by industry veteran Koh Boon Hwee. Far East Ventures is the venture capital arm of Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private property developer.

The funding will enable the company to accelerate its scaling around Southeast Asia. Billed as 'Uber for mobile phone repair', Fynd has already started operations in Hong Kong and plans to expand to Jakarta by the end of the year. The fact that Fynd has been able to achieve so much traction and was already profitable when it left Joyful Frog Digital Innovation's Accelerate programme in December 2015 were key factors in the investors’ decision to back the company.

Fynd offers fast, convenient and trustworthy services to repair smartphones and tablet devices anytime, anywhere. Fynd further provides 30 days of warranty for the parts replaced. Parts are top-quality, Fynd says, but not claimed to be original as originality can only be claimed by a manufacturer's authorised service provider.

Prices and duration are all quoted online for popular models, though Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi phones are not listed:

A faulty charging port on an iPhone SE Space Gray (black home button) device will cost S$91 inclusive of GST, and take 25 minutes on-site, according to Fynd's online estimates.

In other cases Fynd will pick up the phone and return it after repair. Replacing a Samsung S7 Edge whose screen is cracked but whose touch capabilities are still working costs S$432 inclusive of 7% GST, and will take three to five working days with pickup and return.

“Fynd’s first phase was all about getting the value proposition and processes right for both customers and our iSpecialists, the experienced technicians who deliver our service on the front line. On an operational level, that is now working really well. Going forward, the challenge for our next phase is to scale as fast as we can while making sure we stay true to the promise of reliability and trust that lies at the heart of what we do. Far East Ventures and Mr Koh Boon Hwee both have extensive industry experience and networks across the region that will be invaluable to us as we grow,” said founder and CEO Albert Tirtohadi.

"We see great potential for Fynd’s services, especially in markets with very high smartphone penetration such as Singapore and Hong Kong," said Jonathan Ng, co-founder of Far East Ventures.

To celebrate today’s milestone, Fynd is offering a promotional code FYND2016 that entitles every customer to a S$16 discount off any repair from August to October 2016.

Interested?

The Fynd website connects individual smartphone users in Singapore and Hong Kong with a team of carefully screened iSpecialists to give broken phones a new lease of life while keeping confidential data on the device secure. Book a repair appointment at home or in the office at your convenience in Singapore or in Hong Kong

Corporate services under Fynd Concierge are also available