FunNow
9 known investors
FunNow operates a mobile app for instant booking of local lifestyle and leisure services, including restaurants, hotel stays, spa and massage, salon and nail services, KTV, and activities. It offers members promotions, discounts, and same-day reservations across food, beverage, and entertainment categories.
Also known as FunNow Inc. · Zoek
Investors · 9
Also in the syndicate · 8
Company profile
researched Aug 2026FunNow operates an on-demand booking platform and mobile app that lets consumers reserve local lifestyle and leisure services as little as 15 minutes ahead. Bookable categories span food and beverage, bars, overnight and short-stay hotel and motel rooms, spa and massage, body care, hot springs, salon, nail and lash services, KTV and party venues, glamping, escape rooms and games, handcraft experiences and sports. The platform emphasises instant confirmation, dynamic pricing that is lower at off-peak times, reviewed and quality-screened merchants, and location-based personalised recommendations.
Alongside the consumer marketplace, the company sells FunNow Booking, a subscription digital reservation-management product for merchants. It runs on a tablet, consolidates bookings from multiple channels 24/7, provides table and seating management, peak/off-peak scheduling and pricing controls, prepayment and deposit collection to reduce no-shows, a branded booking microsite for the merchant, and an integration with Reserve with Google. The company markets it to beauty, massage, restaurant, accommodation, professional services, studio, pet and car-detailing businesses on a no-commission, no-hidden-fee basis.
The business is presented as a Southeast Asian lifestyle booking platform group operating four brands — FunNow, Eatigo, TABLEAPP and Niceday — and pursuing digital transformation and AI-driven revenue management for retail merchants.
Founding story
FunNow was founded in 2015 by four Taiwanese entrepreneurs born between 1981 and 1990: TK Chen (co-founder and CEO), CC Chang / Chia-Chen Chang (co-founder and chief global strategist), Pei-Yi Sun and Szu-Chi Lee. The stated mission is to enable spontaneity through an easy and reliable booking experience for urban consumers.
Business model
FunNow runs a two-sided marketplace: consumers book leisure and lifestyle experiences through the app while merchants list inventory, including discounted off-peak capacity. It also licenses FunNow Booking, a merchant-facing reservation management SaaS product sold on a flat low-cost subscription described as costing less than a daily coffee, explicitly without commissions or hidden fees.
Revenue is derived from the consumer booking marketplace, where merchants list paid experiences and members receive instant discounts and Fun Coins rebates, and from subscription fees for the FunNow Booking merchant reservation system.
Traction
The platform reported more than 4,500 merchant partners and more than 1.5 million users globally. CDIB Capital reported one million app downloads worldwide, 1.5 million members, 5,000+ overseas market partners, headcount growth from 25 to 90, and a ninefold valuation increase. During Taiwan's 2021 lockdown revenue fell sharply but recovered to about 80% of pre-pandemic levels; takeaway bookings introduced during the lockdown generated returns close to dine-in revenue within two months.
Latest developments
Following the February 2024 merger with Eatigo, the company presents itself as a Southeast Asian lifestyle booking group spanning FunNow, Eatigo, TABLEAPP and Niceday across seven Asian markets, and is promoting FunNow Booking, its low-cost merchant reservation management system with Reserve with Google integration. Secondary shares in the company are listed on the EquityZen private marketplace under the ticker FUNN.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
FunNow describes itself as the first last-minute booking platform in Asia and, as a group, as a leading Southeast Asian lifestyle booking platform. Coverage identifies competition from Klook and PickTime, which added local staycation and lifestyle bookings, with FunNow differentiating on everyday-life categories rather than destination-oriented packages.
Management points to a focus on instant booking with as little as 15 minutes' notice and on recurring daily-life services — dining, haircuts, manicures, massages, party supplies — rather than tourism packages, arguing that habitual use across roughly ten everyday categories raises switching costs. Additional differentiators cited are off-peak discounting, quality-vetted merchants with authentic reviews, and a low-cost, commission-free merchant booking system.
Technology
The product combines instant online booking with real-time availability, location-based discovery and personalised recommendations. The merchant system offers unified multi-channel booking intake, tagging to track booking progress, new versus returning customer identification, flexible seating and table management, holiday and peak/off-peak scheduling with variable pricing, online payment and deposit tracking, cancellation policy controls, and a Reserve with Google integration. The group describes applying AI-driven revenue management across its brands.
Go-to-market
Consumer acquisition runs through the mobile app and website with promotion codes, birthday and member gifts, Fun Coins rebates, tiered member benefits and payment-partner promotions with Visa, LINE Pay and AFTEE. Merchants are recruited through a partner sign-up funnel for FunNow Booking. The company has also used corporate-investor partnerships — for example promotional placement of FunNow activities within PChome and resource-sharing with KKday — to drive low-cost traffic.
On the consumer side, urban residents in Asian cities making spontaneous, same-day plans for dining, wellness, beauty, accommodation and nightlife. On the merchant side, restaurants, bars, hotels and motels, spas and massage parlours, salons and beauty studios, karaoke and entertainment venues, plus niche service businesses such as professional services, studios, pet services and car detailing.
Geography
The FunNow platform lists Greater Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Okinawa, Sapporo, Tokyo and Kansai, with the consumer site organised around Taipei and Taoyuan. The wider brand group operates in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan. Local teams were reported in Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan, with Taiwan the largest market.
History
Founded in 2015, FunNow participated in the Meet Taipei startup event in 2016, where it won a grand prize from CDIB Capital Group and connected with the CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator; it became one of the first investments of the accelerator fund established in 2017. A $5 million Series A followed in 2018, and a 2019 trip to Japan led to investment from the Japan-based CSV Venture Fund. The company acquired Kuala Lumpur reservation app TABLEAPP around 2020, closed a $15 million Series B in November 2021 bringing total funding to about $22.5 million, and merged with Eatigo in February 2024. It is now positioned as a four-brand group comprising FunNow, Eatigo, TABLEAPP and Niceday.
Risks & controversies
The company's markets were materially disrupted by COVID-19: a lockdown in Taiwan from May to August 2021 caused revenue to decline sharply, and outbreaks affected Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia, delaying a Series B originally planned for 2020. Management also flagged intensifying competition as travel-focused platforms such as Klook and PickTime moved into overlapping local booking categories.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Acquisitions · 1
Early investors' stakes continue via these dealsEatigo is an online restaurant reservation platform offering time-based discounts of up to 50% at participating restaurants, helping venues fill empty seats during off-peak hours. It serves diners and restaurants across Asia, operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsTechCrunch reported that Taiwan-based lifestyle app FunNow merged with Eatigo to broaden its Southeast Asia reach.
FunNow closed a $15 million Series B co-led by Perfect Hexagon Commodity & Investment Bank and Ascendo Ventures, with participation from the corporate venture arms of PChome, KKday and Wistron and returning investors including CDIB Capital, Darwin Ventures, Accuvest, Sanpu Travel Group and CSV Venture Fund. Proceeds were earmarked for adding app categories such as night clubs, karaoke and catering, and for entry into Thailand and Singapore.
$15M source ↗
FunNow added takeaway bookings after finding Malaysian customers preferred pickup over delivery, then applied the same approach in Taiwan; it also introduced daytime hotel reservations in four-, six- and 12-hour increments.
FunNow expanded its Malaysian operations through the acquisition of TABLEAPP, a Kuala Lumpur-based reservation app, reported as having occurred one year before the November 2021 Series B announcement.
Following a 2019 trip to Japan facilitated by CDIB's accelerator fund, FunNow built relationships with overseas venture capital firms and received investment from the Japan-based CSV Venture Fund.
FunNow was among the first teams invested in after CDIB Capital established its Innovation Accelerator Fund in 2017.
FunNow took part in the Meet Taipei startup community event organized by Business Next, where it connected with the CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator and won a grand prize from CDIB Capital Group.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- FunNowmyfunnow.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does FunNow do?
- FunNow is a Taipei-based instant-booking app for last-minute restaurant, hotel, spa, salon and entertainment reservations across Asia.
- Who are FunNow's investors?
- FunNow's investors include Ascendo Ventures.