Choco Up invests $630k in Singapore augmented reality startup

Hong Kong’s Choco Up, a revenue-based financing platform, has invested US$630,000 in Singapore augmented reality (AR) and AI startup BuzzAR as part of a funding partnership.

BuzzAR provides location-based solutions that allow retail and commerce firms to create personalized AR experiences for their customers. It also offers an AR wayfinder, which uses a point cloud to help users navigate shopping malls and view shop details with their phone cameras.

The company has also developed a mobile game, The Cooking Game, which it said has grown without any VC funding to have 20 million players. The new capital, however, will be used to develop localized marketing campaigns across Asia Pacific, China, and the US as BuzzAR ramps up its business-to-business partnerships, it said in a statement.

“At BuzzAR, we want to connect people and places, create the metaverse, web3.0, and pioneer the next smart AI revolution while at the same time giving users a novel and exciting experience,” said Bell Beh, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

Beh is a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who has over 10 years of legal and business experience with companies like Singtel and Marina Bay Sands. Ken Lim, the other co-founder, serves as BuzzAR’s chief technology officer after garnering more than 10 years of deeptech experience.

Since its inception in 2018, BuzzAR counts a number of Fortune 500 companies in its clientele. It’s also currently a member of the third cohort of the Singapore Tourism Accelerator program.

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