● Mercular.com, a Community Commerce company, raised over $4 million in Series A funding.
● Central Retail recognizes Mercular's growth potential and its unique positioning in a competitive international landscape.
● Central Retail aims to promote Mercular's rapid and sustainable growth through the company's comprehensive ecosystem.
● This investment will help expand the market for Hobby & Lifestyle products, providing a 'New Retail' experience and striving to become a true consumer community.

Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited (CRC) announced its investment in the dynamic Thai startup Mercular, which has the highest online sales in the Hobby Lifestyle category, raising over $4 million from its first Series A funding round with leading investors from Thailand and abroad. This investment was completed on August 31st, with Central Retail focusing on promoting Mercular's rapid and sustainable growth through the company's robust ecosystem. The investment in Mercular is made in collaboration with Power Buy, the leading electronics retailer under Central Retail, to extend sales channels from E-commerce to an Omnichannel platform and expand the market for Hobby & Lifestyle products, providing a New Retail experience and aiming to become a true consumer community.

Mercular is a Thai startup that has made significant strides amidst fierce competition from international players, clearly establishing a unique market position. It is recognized as a Community Commerce platform that focuses on creating value for customers beyond just pricing. The key aspect is being a leader in the Hobby Lifestyle product category, understanding hobbyists, and emphasizing a great experience, from offering diverse and comprehensive products to providing in-depth product information, building a Community, and offering fast after-sales service, distinguishing itself from other marketplace players, thus enabling the company to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

Mr. Ty Chirathivat, Chief Financial Officer of Central Retail Corporation Limited (Public), stated, "Central Retail's investment in Mercular reflects our commitment to supporting promising Thai startups driven by energetic young people with fresh, creative perspectives, enabling them to achieve rapid growth. We encourage them to fully utilize our strong ecosystem, which also reflects Central Retail's DNA of having a forward-looking vision, keenly observing the trends of modern consumers to reach the high purchasing power segment of Millennials, particularly hobbyists. Currently, this market segment is growing at a rate of 11.26% and is expected to reach a value of 100 billion baht by 2025, making Mercular an interesting startup with growth potential. Together, we will create a 'New Retail' experience through Central Retail's Omnichannel channels, leveraging Mercular's strengths in E-commerce and the Hobby & Lifestyle community, including products like headphones, cameras, gaming equipment, and collectibles, to meet diverse consumer needs, starting with collaboration with Power Buy on sales channels while exploring opportunities to expand into other business areas within Central Retail in the future."

On the other hand, Mr. Woragun Wattansakchai, CEO and Co-founder of Mercular, stated, "Partnering with Central Retail will accelerate our company's growth, allowing us to achieve our goal of becoming the number one player in the Hobby Lifestyle products market in Thailand while building a strong community of hobbyists who enjoy various hobbies. The market still has significant growth potential, coupled with a limited number of competitors who can deeply understand the market. We believe this collaboration will enable Mercular to reach consumers through all channels, both online and offline, in key locations across the country. Additionally, it will integrate Community Commerce and 'New Retail' to create new innovations, fun, and exciting experiences to become a market leader and expand into neighboring markets in the near future."

"Investing in Mercular represents a new investment strategy that shows Central Retail is not only developing the organization internally but is also interested in and open to investing in high-potential startups and new business partners to strengthen our business together for relentless growth in the New Normal era," Mr. Ty concluded.