DTC’s Daily Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands. In today’s edition: Grab betting big on Vietnam; Koin Rewards bringing sustainability to loyalty; and Peloton IPO is official

Grab betting big on Vietnam 

Ride-hailing firm Grab has announced it will invest USD$500m (£410m) in Vietnam over the next five years to expand its services in the Southeast Asian country.

The company will expand its transport, food and payments networks in the country, Grab said in a statement. "This investment is a reflection of our redoubled commitment to Vietnam," said Russell Cohen, Head of Regional Operations of Grab. "The country's rapidly developing economy and emerging middle class population makes it ripe for the adoption of digital services," he said.

“We’re very excited about Vietnam. We see very similar characteristics to Indonesia,” Grab President Ming Maa told Reuters in an interview.

Grab and rival Indonesia-based Go-Jek are evolving from ride-hailing app operators to become one-stop shops for services as varied as payments, food delivery, logistics and hotel bookings in Southeast Asia. The news comes just weeks after Grab also unveiled it would invest USD$2bn (£1.6bn) in Indonesia.

Koin Rewards bringing sustainability to loyalty

Koin Rewards, an ethical app looking to change the way loyalty schemes work, is crowdfunding on Seedrs. Koin provides an engaging rewards platform where members earn digital currency, Koin, for their spend, attention and participation with responsible, next-generation brands and merchants.

The business is tapping into consumers’ desire to shop ethically with merchants that support sustainability, and match their values. 

To date, the company already works with the likes of Simba Sleep, Swoon, and Planet Organic, and through an integration with Shopify they can plug into a new merchant within minutes. 

The proceeds will be used to build out the token backend and roll-out additional e-commerce integrations. With so many DTC brands looking to position themselves as environmentally friendly, a partnership with a growing business like Koin could help them harness that image. 

Koin is looking to raise £250k (£205k), and had a pre-money valuation of over £2.2m (£1.8m).

Peloton IPO is official

Peloton, the well-funded maker of internet-connected stationary bikes and treadmills, has finally revealed documents for its upcoming initial public offering. The New York-based company, which plans to raise USD$500m (£410m) in its Nasdaq offering, will trade under the ticker symbol PTON.

Peloton reported USD$915m (£751m) in total revenue for the year ending June 30, 2019, an increase of 110% from USD$435m (£357m) in fiscal 2018 and USD$218.6m (£179.3m) in 2017. Its losses, meanwhile, hit USD$245.7m (£201.6m) in 2019, up significantly from a reported net loss of USD$47.9m (£39.2m) last year.

The company has reached 1.4 million total community members, defined as any individual who has a Peloton account.

Peloton customers subscribe to the company’s digital library of fitness content, streamed live and on-demand, for USD$39 per month, in addition to purchasing its hardware, which costs USD$2,200 to USD$4,295 apiece. The company says 58 million workouts were completed by Peloton users in fiscal 2019, while its paying subscriber base reached an all-time high of 511,202.

As for subscription revenue, Peloton reports USD$181m (£148m) for fiscal 2019, up from USD$80m (£66m) last year.

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