Founders of food ordering app Oddle said to be looking to exit

The founders of Singapore food ordering app Oddle, which offers choices from Michelin-starred restaurants to bubble tea concoctions, are working with an adviser to exit the company, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The start-up, co-founded by Mr Jonathan Lim, Mr Pua Yong Xiang and Mr Jeremy Lee, has reached out to potential suitors to gauge interest, said the sources, asking not to be named as the process is private.

Sale documents show that Oddle has raised total funds of $5 million over the past three years and is projecting a gross profit of $8 million for fiscal year ending March next year, the sources said.

Online food ordering from people stuck indoors has taken off since the outbreak of Covid-19, boosting revenues at companies such as Oddle. Deliberations are at an early stage and the founders could decide to keep the business, the sources said. The company declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.

Oddle counts SPH Ventures, RB Investments, Fidelis Capital, Wavemaker Partners and Quest Ventures among its backers, according to its most recent filings with Singapore regulators. The company's order management system is used by some 3,000 brands in more than 10 countries, its website shows.

Among these outlets is Odette, ranked as Asia's best restaurant, where people can order Normandy crab dumplings and milk-fed Axuria lamb.

The start-up posted revenue of $1.8 million in the year ended March 31, 2018, up 57 per cent from a year earlier, according to the filings.

Its net loss narrowed to $2.3 million from $2.6 million.

Oddle's move comes as the number of technology start-up exits in South-east Asia was little changed in the first half of this year from a year ago, according to a recent report by Singapore-based Cento Ventures.

The proceeds generated from the exits dropped by almost 50 per cent, the report said.

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