Bindo’s Next Venture

New York-based retail POS startup Bindo taps into restaurant industry and plans Mainland China expansion through Hong Kong

Bindo’s all-in-one portal is what most retailers would wish for: it is an integration of point-of-sales (POS) system, cloud-based inventory tracking, employee management with CRM and analytic functionality. The success of the product has been validated by not only the market, but also rounds of secured funding from angel investors and venture capitals (VC) for its continuous growth.

Recently, the New York-based startup has been expanding into the restaurant industry, especially in Hong Kong where its regional headquarters of Asia-Pacific is located. In the last two years, Bindo has successfully closed a number of enterprise customers in Hong Kong including Kerry Hotels by the Shangri-La Group , Miramar Group and Jamie’s Italian, to name a few.

Benedict Wong, VP Business Development and Head of APAC, said that with a high density of outlets in major districts, Hong Kong is a perfect launch pad for Bindo. “Due to intense competition in the food and beverages as well as retail sector, many of our customers are keen to adopt new technology that helps lower operating costs and increase revenue,” he remarked.

While Bindo is making foray into the Mainland market where a high demand for their product has emerged, Hong Kong remains as the base for the company to sketch their blueprint of regional expansion.

“As one of the most multi-cultural cities in Asia, Hong Kong is renowned for its ease of doing business and widespread use of English and Chinese, making it convenient for us to sell into both the US and Mainland China markets,” Wong said.

He also believes that the ease of funding here makes the city a great location for startups like Bindo. “Hong Kong’s rapidly growing startup scene is exemplified by the many new incubators, VC funds and angel investors that have been emerging out of the city in recent years,” he remarked, adding that Hong Kong has got all the qualities to produce its first startup unicorn.

Since 2013, Bindo’s Hong Kong office has grown to 35 staff, over half of which are engineers and the rest are sales and customer support. Wong thinks that the tech startup industry here attracts a lot of great talent from overseas. “There is a fast growing influx of graduate engineers, better equipped with practical programming skill, which makes hiring easier,” he added.

Wong’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs in Hong Kong is to be as active as possible in the startup scene and build relationship with other entrepreneurs. “Hong Kong is a particularly tight-knit community with startup founders who are all eager to see each other succeed. The more successful startups in Hong Kong, the larger the amount of attention investors will give to the city, which will results in a larger pool of capital available for everyone.” He concluded.