Malaysian pre-owned electronics retailer plans to extend its warranty-backed store model beyond its home market for the first time.

Malaysian pre-owned electronics retailer 3cat raised $4 million in a Series A round to enter the Philippines, as it extends its warranty-backed retail model beyond Malaysia for the first time.

The Radical Fund, AEON and returning investors Iterative, TA Ventures and TheVentures backed an earlier, undisclosed pre-Series A round in June 2025.

Foxmont Capital Partners, a Philippine early-growth investment firm, led the round. ADB and Golden Gate Ventures, a Singapore-based venture firm, also participated. The company has not disclosed its valuation, revenue or how the $4 million was split among the three investors.

Foxmont has been building a portfolio of companies expanding into or from the Philippines, while ADB has authorized a further $2.8 million for possible future funding rounds of the company, a commitment separate from the amount raised in the current round.

3cat has expanded to more than 20 stores in Malaysia

3cat began in Malaysia in 2023 as an online-only business and has since grown into a network of more than 20 physical stores. It operates an omnichannel business that lets customers buy, sell and repair devices. In stores, it backs pre-owned devices with quality checks, a 12-month warranty and a returns policy, and also offers financing. Most in-store transactions in Malaysia include an online touchpoint, with proprietary AI sales agents used within parts of the customer journey, the company said.

Company points to Philippine smartphone demand

3cat chose the Philippines as its first international market because of the country's large mobile-first consumer base and rising demand for affordable devices as smartphone prices increase. Citing a third-party estimate, the company said that 18.4 million smartphones were sold in the Philippines in 2025, nearly twice the volume sold in Malaysia. The rising memory costs have been pushing new smartphone prices higher across the region. The company announced the expansion in a social media post reading, "From Malaysia to the Philippines!" according to Manila Bulletin.

Karl Loo, chief executive and co-founder of 3cat, said trust is what makes the pre-owned device category scalable, citing three years spent building it through device quality, warranties, store investment and customer experience.

Foxmont managing partner Jelmer Ikink said the company had built a retail model that could widen access to quality devices in the Philippines, while ADB Ventures investment specialist Charles Navarro added it could help raise industry standards and extend devices' useful life.

ADB approves separate equity investment covering both markets

ADB's project database shows it approved a $3.8 million equity investment in Singapore-incorporated 3CAT Holdings Pte. Ltd. on Sept. 11, covering both Malaysia and the Philippines. The investment will come from ADB Ventures Investment Fund 2 and will be administered by ADB's private sector operations department. Singapore corporate records show 3CAT Holdings was incorporated in April 2026. Publicly available information does not establish the exact corporate relationship between 3CAT Holdings and the Malaysia-based business.

The approval came around the same time the company announced its Philippine expansion, according to Manila Bulletin. The project data sheet did not say how the $3.8 million would be divided between the two markets.

The company has not disclosed how many stores it plans to open in the Philippines, on what timeline or how much of the rollout will begin online.