Celebrating Milestones and Looking Ahead
It’s been exactly one year since ADB Frontier launched and so it’s only fitting that we publish our first newsletter in the same month. It’s been a very busy, exciting and empowering year for our team as we’ve worked to not only build our brand and facility but also meet with so many inspiring founders across Cambodia, Lao PDR, Fiji and the Pacific to discuss how we can best support their capital and growth needs.
Recently, we co-hosted our first event in partnership with Swisscontact Cambodia to introduce Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) as an innovative and funding model for early-stage innovative businesses in Cambodia. The event brought together over 70 business leaders and provided key insights into how RBF offers flexible, non-dilutive growth capital aligned to a company’s revenue.
We also featured an engaging fireside chat moderated by Sophorn Kith, ADB Frontier’s Investment Manager alongside founders, Tola Ol, COO of Misota, a dried fruits company, and Sato Moeun, CEO & Co-founder of Nor Khmer Concepts, a seafood company – who both shared their experience with RBF and inspiring journeys.
Tola, highlighted RBF as a viable funding option especially for businesses with a seasonal sales model as RBF offers a flexible repayment schedule aligned to actual revenue.
Sato, underscored the importance of protecting cash-flow and easing constant pressure on working capital as an early-stage business and RBF provided the essential breathing room the business required due to its flexibile repayment structure.
The event reminded us of the critical need for alternative funding tailored specifically for early-stage innovative businesses not just in Cambodia but in frontier markets across APAC. Thank you again Tola and Sato as well as to everybody who joined us!
PORTFOLIO SPOTLIGHT
Misota – A look inside our portfolio company
Misota is an agri-food processing company based in Cambodia turning locally sourced raw fruits into a range of high-quality tropical dried fruit products, snacks and goods for both the domestic and international markets. Founded in 2017, the company works closely with over 500 farmers and suppliers, many of whom are women and sources a variety of seasonal fruits from mangoes, bananas, and oranges encouraging agricultural diversity, enhancing farmers’ adaptability to climate-risks and securing stable incomes. What made Misota a compelling company for Frontier was its strong export market traction and commitment to supporting local farmers. That, and the delicious products that they are producing – this really sealed the deal for Frontier. When the product is excellent and the team behind the product is equally impressive, it’s a great sign for investors.
At the helm of Misota is a dynamic team led by co-founder Tan Michel, an experienced engineer and entrepreneur. Supporting Tan is Chief Operating Officer Tola Ol, a Cambodian native with 20+ years of experience consulting and managing local and international manufacturing and service businesses.
ADB Frontier’s funding will help Misota procure raw materials such as mangoes to be produced for export markets.
Let’s hear from Tola, COO of Misota about their journey and the impact of this investment.
Tell us about Misota and what kind of products you sell?
We specialize in high-quality dried fruits sourced directly from Cambodian farmers. Our brands, Oja, Misota,Natufri, and Green Charm, offer a range of products, from natural dried mangoes and pineapples to fruit snacks targeting various consumer tastes. Our fruits sourced from local communities are the main selling point to our international customers.
Can you share some key challenges that have shaped Misota’s journey so far?
One of our key challenges was scaling up production to fulfil growing demand. The seasonal nature of the fruit processing business causes revenue to fluctuate significantly, a challenge compounded by cash flow issues unique to export, while international buyers often pay in instalments, we must pay its farmers daily, sometimes even upfront. This mismatch meant that increased export volume created greater cash flow challenges. This is why ADB Frontier’s funding really interested us – revenue-based financing provided the flexibility to directly address this challenge by offering a flexible repayment schedule perfect for seasonal businesses like ours.
How will ADB Frontier’s investment help Misota grow?
We received working capital to make vital improvements to our supply chain, infrastructure, and safety standards, helping to push forward momentum and continued growth. Beyond capital, the ADB Frontier team is also supporting us with capacity building for both middle management and workers, with the goal of enhancing overall productivity and workflow efficiency.
What growth milestones do you aim to achieve for Misota?
Our primary goal is to increase our export sales by 75% in 2025, especially in key markets like Thailand, Japan, South Korea, France, UK, US, Australia and the Philippines. Also, we aim to enhance our production to meet global standards by securing key certifications such as BRC to be able to better compete at international level. .
By supporting early-stage and innovative businesses like Misota through innovative financing, we aim to help build thriving local business ecosystems. This is only the beginning for Misota and we’re excited to help them continue to grow and scale sustainably.
Source : https://frontierseed.substack.com/p/celebrating-milestones-and-looking
