Being one of the pioneering startups in the field of social e-commerce in Viet Nam, over the past year, Selly, a startup headquartered in Da Nang’s Hai Chau District, has created jobs and income for hundreds of thousands of people, mainly housewives and those who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19.

Selly is an app dedicated to suppliers and sellers.

Officially launched in April 2021, Selly is a platform dedicated to those who want to run an online business with the criterion of ‘3 Nos’: no capital, no inventory, and no worries about operation.

In terms of operation, Selly provides quality goods at the best prices from manufacturers to people who want to run an online business without capital.

What you have to do is to access Selly to find products you want to sell, and then post product information on social network sites like Facebook, Zalo, Instagram... or send them to your potential customers.

After an order was successfully delivered to customers, a commission from that order will be transferred to seller’s account on Selly wallet within seven working days.

On each product, there is a QR code or barcode to check all product-related information. All cosmetic products have a seal on the outside of the box and a Vietnamese sub-stamp. Goods of great value are stored and warranted online.

Mr. Thong Le Anh Tuan, the Founder cum Director of the Selly Co., Ltd., said, after nearly one year of establishment, Selly has linked with more than 310 suppliers, manufacturers, and import companies with a combined total of more than 7,400 items with full genuine papers. Selly currently has about 300,000 sales partners, 80% of whom are from small cities, and are housewives and people who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19.

As for traditional manufacturers and distributors, Selly also helps them develop e-commerce business in order to keep up with the increasingly popular trend of online shopping, expand their consumption markets, and access customers across the country.

Mr. Tuan said proudly that after a year of operation, Selly has always exceeded all expectations set by the founding team. Selly’s monthly business growth has never been lower than 50%. Its business growth in March 2022 increased by 450 times compared to the same period last year.

The number of app downloads from the Google Play Store hit the milestone of more than 500,000. A combined total of one million products have been sold on Selly app. The total amount that has been transferred to the accounts of sales partners has reached more than VND10 billion.

In early 2022, Selly successfully raised US$2.6 million (nearly VND 60 billion) from a Pre-Series A funding round to upgrade products and expand the e-commerce market. The funding capital came from investment funds of CyberAgent Capital, Do Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia and KVision.

Mrs. Amy Do, the Investment Director at the JAFCO Asia investment fund, explained the main reason for investing into Selly is that this business model can help people earn extra income without initial investment, especially the group of people who have their jobs lost or income reduced because of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, CEO Nguyen Minh Tuan from the CyberAgent Capital Vietnam fund spoke highly Selly for its very large and fast-growing market that is different from traditional e-commerce.

Mr. Tuan revealed that Selly's goal was to focus on improving the quality of life for Vietnamese people, especially housewives and those who are vulnerable to economic fluctuations.

“With the new capital, we will continue to improve our products to bring the best experience for our sales partners and suppliers, as well as bring Selly to more provinces and cities nationwide to facilitate locals to earn sustainable income” noted he.

With over 10 years of experience in doing startups in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Tuan has drawn three lessons for startups.

The first is a lesson on market analysis: if you want to develop, you should dive into the market of tens of billions of dollars to become a billion-dollar company instead of small markets with small needs.

The second lesson is about how to mobilise capital. It is necessary to find the right investors and be strict in legal matters.

The third lesson is about business model. It is necessary to find every way to make your business model have high revenue as soon as possible, so that even if you cannot raise capital, you can still "alive" and let the negotiation process go smoothly, which demonstrates the long-term potential of a startup.

Reporting by PHONG LAN – Translating by M.DUNG