Golf startup Deemples raises US$105K in funding

MALAYSIA-headquartered golfing startup Deemples closed its recent fundraising round at US$105,000 (RM430,085) bringing the total funds raised so far to around US$270,000 (RM1.1 million).

Deemples, popularly known as “the Uber for golfers” is a golf app that allows users to find a golf partner to play with whenever and wherever.

The startup is planning to use the funding to solidify their position in their existing market across five Southeast Asian countries, namely, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei.

Launched in 2017 with the aim of helping people find golf buddies and enabling them to organise games at preferred locations and time slots, Deemples has become a popular service among the golfing community, including golfers, golf courses and even golf tournament organisers.

Deemples co-founder and chief executive officer David Wong (pic, above), said, “Golf was the one thing that made me look forward to every weekend. However, it was difficult to find people to play with as my schedule with golf friends didn’t always match.

“To solve this problem, I decided to build the Deemples Golf App that helps golfers find each other and get on a course for a round, regardless of when and where. With Deemples, I want golfers to be able to golf whenever and wherever they want to, and to be able to expand their golfing circles beyond geographical boundaries.“

In the past two-plus years, the startup has built a strong and active community, with over 3,000 monthly users with the mobile app being downloaded more than 18,000 times.

Since 2017, over 10,000 rounds of golf have been played through the Deemples app with double that amount expected to be played in 2019 alone.

Bryan Chung, the managing director of Cadence Venture Capital and Deemples advisor said, “Deemples is using technology to address one of the biggest challenges in the golfing industry in Southeast Asia. The impact of Deemples has been both wide-reaching and very positive for the golfing community. They have shown strong growth since the beginning and the funding will only help them accelerate their growth and continue to offer great services to the golfing community.”

Boosting growth in the golfing industry

With the slowing growth of the sport of golf, Deemples provides a platform for the industry to reverse the slowdown and help rebuild the golfing community. This free-to-use mobile app makes golf more accessible and helps bring together those looking for a game regardless of the level of expertise.

Deemples uses technology to bring efficiency and simplicity to the game of golf, thus removing the exclusivity around the sport. Users now have easy access to a large and active golfing community and can join games or flights as they are known in the golfing community.

Besides joining games, users can start creating golf rounds with their preferred playing date, golf course, tee time, number of players, and green fee.

The service not only benefits users, but golf courses are also seeing more golfers visit their courses and play more regularly. By making it easier to find golfing buddies and giving golf courses access to a larger community of golfers, Deemples is helping boost the local golfing industries throughout the region.

Today Deemples is available in over 350 golf courses in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei. The startup will also start monetisation efforts, including helping golf courses accept payments upfront, which guarantees revenue for courses even for no-shows.

Rob Nicholls, founder of T-Drivers Social Golf Club which is present in Bali, Jakarta and Australia shared, “Deemples has been nothing but amazing since, at T-Drivers Social Golf Club Indonesia, we began using the application as a part of our member registrations for club games.

“Not only has Deemples allowed us to streamline our administrative support between members and our contracted golf clubs, but has also enabled us to introduce our social club and its offerings to external social golfers. T-Drivers sees Deemples as the perfect platform to promote golf. We have seen a good increase in footfall since we got associated with Deemples and we’re looking forward to the monetisation solutions they will be providing soon.”