The move is expected to result in Wongnai increasing its revenue by 200 per cent this year, and to drive the company towards a listing on the Market for Alternative Investment or the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the next three years.

Co-founder and CEO Yod Chinsupakul said the company planned to use the new funding to expand its business in three directions: into the provinces; into additional review categories; and diversifying from the advertising model only to charging a transaction fee.

First off is to expand its market coverage to Hua Hin and Nakhon Ratchasima, which will give it six offices outside Bangkok by the year’s end.

Second is to cover more lifestyle review categories by adding the travel industry this year.

“Wongnai is not just about food reviews, as lifestyle reviewing also has potential. We have the beauty and spa review category, which last year accounted for 15 per cent of our traffic of 9 million visitors per month, and contributed around 10 per cent to revenue,” Yod said.

Last but not least, Wongnai’s revenue stream will also be transaction-fee based, via the offering of deals and delivery service.

Currently, the business partners with LINE Man to provide delivery for 1,000 recommended restaurants out of 80,000 Bangkok restaurants in Wongnai’s database.

It might add delivery service for more restaurants in the future, he added. “Investment capital will be used to continue our growth, including increasing our monthly active users from 600,000 to one million, and to increase staff from 80 to 110 by the end of this year,” he explained.

The CEO said Wongnai’s focus on Thailand, and not only in the capital, was the main strength that had attracted InVent to commit to series-B investment.

Thanapong Na-ranong, vice president and head of the venture-capital team at Intouch, said InVent this year was concentrating on investing in series-B start-ups, due to a relative lack of investors in such businesses and the lower risk.With a 2016 investment budget of over Bt200 million, InVent plans to invest in four start-ups, most of them series-B entities that usually each require more than Bt30 million.

InVent is a corporate fund, so it aims to invest in start-ups with a product or service that can be utilised, and is not looking to invest simply for financial gain, he said.

“Normally, a return on investment for series-B takes around three years, therefore we are set on driving Wongnai to an initial public offering in the next three years,” he added. InVent owns 10 per cent in Wongnai, while the Japan-based Recruit Group holds 35 per cent, and the founders own the remaining 55 per cent.