Durians Daily #312: PurelyB restructured amid the pandemic, leading to a 229% revenue jump; ESPL secures trademark registrations in EU region to strengthen its position in esports; Naluri increases psychologist productivity by 8x without compromising on quality

Credit: Tatler Malaysia

Health is wealth

• In the last six years, 500-backed wellness startup PurelyB has gone through several iterations, including taking a crack as an e-commerce platform. Last year, it went through its most dramatic change yet — restructuring in the midst of a pandemic.
• The startup revamped its e-commerce operations while still keeping up the quality of its educational content. This led to an overall cost reduction of 40%.
• PurelyB then released its first signature product, Pegaga by PurelyB, a blend of herbs and fruits that improves immunity and gut health. According to co-founder Jesrina Arshad new user registrations almost tripled during the pandemic. The product sold out within the first week of lockdown in Malaysia.
• To provide accessible and affordable wellness solutions, PurelyB also offered a 40% discount and 3-month zero interest installments. This resulted in a 229% jump in revenue in 2020 from 2019.
• Read the full story on VulcanPost here.

Credit: Fredrick Tendong on Unsplash

Serious about gaming

• 500-backed Esports Players League (ESPL) has secured trademark registrations in EU countries. According to Sedania, an associate company, this is one of the key steps in protecting the startup’s brand internationally.
• “With the initiated exercise, ESPL is strengthening its position as the key player in the esports ecosystem in the region,” the startup’s statement said.
• ESPL currently has a global audience of over 91 million with strategic partners in 16 countries across five regions including MENA, Europe, South Asia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
• Sedania added that ESPL’s pre-Series A fundraising round surpassed its target and the capital growth of ESPL has grown 8.8x in less than two years.
• Read the full article on The Sun Daily here.

Credit: BFM

The many faces of success

• Azran Osman Rani, founder and CEO of 500-backed digital health startup Naluri, appeared on business radio station BFM to speak on the startup’s path to profitability.
• Azran shared that the surge in growth last year tripled its revenue and this momentum has carried forward in 2021. He added that an important metric that the startup also looks at is client renewal rates.
• At the same time, Naluri is focused on the effectiveness of its healthcare professionals without compromising the quality provided. He shared that by equipping mental health professionals with AI-augmented tools, they have been able to see 8x more patients a month, while the most experienced psychologists can see over 10x a month.
• This, he believes, is one of the factors that will keep Naluri on its path to profitability in 2 years’ time. He also revealed that the startup hopes to complete its Series B funding round before the end of 2022.
• Listen to the full interview on BFM here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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