Abillion

About Abillion

Abillion operates as a digital platform centered on promoting sustainable and conscious consumerism. The company was founded in Singapore in 2017 by Vikas Garg, a former finance professional with a 15-year career in investment banking and fund management. Garg, who adopted a vegan lifestyle in 2008, was motivated by his personal challenges in finding plant-based options and a desire to leverage technology for social good. After attending a coding bootcamp, he teamed up with coder Jonathan Ng to build the app, which officially launched in May 2018, initially as abillionveg before rebranding to abillion in 2020.

The core of Abillion's business is a mobile application that serves a global community of users interested in sustainability. The platform allows users to discover, review, and share information about vegan and sustainable products across various categories, including food, fashion, and beauty. This user-generated content populates a vast database, helping consumers make informed choices and providing valuable market insights to businesses. The company targets a broad audience, including vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores who are looking to make more sustainable choices.

Abillion's business model incorporates social impact directly into its functionality. For every review posted, the platform credits the user with US$1, which can be donated to one of over 60 non-profit partner organizations focused on animal welfare, conservation, and education. As of May 2023, the company had facilitated over $2.8 million in donations through this mechanism. In a move to further engage its community, Abillion introduced a program allowing users to convert these credits into equity, giving them a stake in the company's future. The company also generates revenue through a peer-to-peer marketplace launched in 2022, which allows individuals and businesses to sell sustainable products, with a portion of the revenue from each transaction being donated to a cause of the buyer's choice. Additionally, the consumer data gathered from reviews is used to provide insights to businesses, helping them adapt to the growing demand for sustainable products.

Significant milestones for the company include raising $3 million in a pre-Series A funding round in 2019 and a $10 million Series A round in December 2021, bringing its total funding to $17 million. By May 2023, the app had surpassed one million downloads and celebrated its fifth anniversary. Abillion has expanded its reach to users in over 180 countries, featuring reviews for products from more than 200,000 companies.