Central Retail Corporation (CRC) announced an investment in Mercular, an e-commerce start-up with strong sales in the hobby and lifestyle categories.
CRC, through Power Buy -- an electronics retail business under the Central Retail Group -- said it would drive Mercular's growth using its retail ecosystem.
The investment is aimed at extending the existing e-commerce sales channel to an omnichannel platform. It is also expected to grow market opportunities for hobby and lifestyle products and deliver a new retail experience.
Closing the Series A funding deal on Aug 31, Mercular raised more than US$4 million from local and international investors.
Ty Chirathivat, CRC's deputy chief financial officer, said the investment in Mercular represented CRC's commitment to supporting Thai start-ups.
"We are empowering these people who have creative and fresh thinking to grow businesses rapidly by allowing them to fully take advantage of our strong retail ecosystem," he said.
The hobbyist market has been growing in recent years, with the market value for this segment expected to reach 100 billion baht by 2025, adding to the appeal of Mercular.
"We are also looking for more opportunities to expand to other business units of CRC in the future," Mr Ty said.
Woragun Wattanasakchai, co-founder and chief executive of Mercular.com, said partnering with CRC would help accelerate his company's growth, with the investment used to build a community commerce experience for hobbyists.
"We therefore believe that this collaboration will enable Mercular to build a sharper competitive edge by establishing integrated omnichannel shopping experiences – both online and offline across Thailand," Mr Woragun said.
"Our investment in Mercular is an unconventional approach that reinforces the dynamic vision of CRC," Mr Ty said.