Business Development Executive

FUNNOW secures $10M strategic investment from Hotai Motor to expand ai-driven travel booking. The investment gives Hotai Motor an approximately 10% stake in FUNNOW while launching an integration between its chicTrip travel platform and FUNNOW's booking ecosystem, beginning with Japan. FUNNOW Group has secured a $10 million strategic investment from Hotai Motor Co., Ltd., with Hotai acquiring an approximately 10% equity stake in the Taiwan-based lifestyle booking company. The transaction also establishes a broader business partnership between FUNNOW and Hotai's travel planning platform, chicTrip, initially focused on Japan. The Series C investment will support FUNNOW's international expansion, AI technology development and preparations for an initial public offering. For Hotai, the partnership extends its mobility-focused ecosystem into travel and lifestyle services, connecting trip planning with real-time bookings. The first phase of the partnership will integrate FUNNOW's booking inventory into chicTrip, beginning with Japan. The objective is to connect the stages of a travel journey that are often handled across separate platforms, from discovering destinations and building itineraries to booking restaurants and local experiences. Hotai launched chicTrip in September 2023 with features including destination discovery, AI-assisted itinerary planning and collaborative trip planning. The platform had surpassed 2.9 million members by September 2026, according to Hotai. FUNNOW will initially provide booking inventory in Japan and subsequently expand the integration to curated merchants across Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Hotai said the partnership will eventually incorporate AI itinerary planning with real-time reservations, moving chicTrip toward a more integrated travel journey. For FUNNOW, the strategy provides a way to put its existing restaurant, accommodation, entertainment and lifestyle inventory directly into a travel-planning environment rather than relying solely on users entering its own booking platforms. Strategic capital extends beyond chicTrip. The investment also gives FUNNOW access to a broader corporate ecosystem. While the chicTrip integration is the most developed initiative, FUNNOW expects the relationship with Hotai to potentially create additional commercial opportunities. In a conversation with AsiaTechDaily, TK Chen, Co-founder and CEO of FUNNOW Group, said: "Hotai Motor is a premier conglomerate with a vast ecosystem and deep resources, offering immense potential for cross-group synergy. While the chicTrip integration is our most fully developed project ready for immediate execution, it is just the beginning. We are confident that as our partnership deepens, we will leverage Hotai's broader network to roll out even more innovative services that delight consumers." Hotai has described the investment as part of its broader Mobility-as-a-Service strategy, using chicTrip to extend its ecosystem from transportation into travel and lifestyle services. The company also plans to use FUNNOW's regional presence as a foundation for future overseas expansion. FUNNOW pushes toward a B2AI2C model. The transaction also accelerates FUNNOW's stated shift from a conventional B2C booking model toward what Chen calls a "B2AI2C" ecosystem. Under this model, FUNNOW aims to operate not only through its consumer-facing applications but also as booking infrastructure for strategic partners and AI-driven interfaces. The company specifically cited chicTrip and AI portals such as ChatGPT as potential interfaces through which consumers could access its booking capabilities. This reflects a broader change in how travel platforms are approaching AI. Rather than limiting AI to itinerary recommendations or search, FUNNOW is positioning booking infrastructure as the transaction layer that can sit behind third-party digital experiences. The Hotai investment follows several acquisitions that FUNNOW has used to expand its presence across Asia. The company acquired Malaysia-based TABLEAPP in 2020, Taiwan family-experience platform Niceday in 2021, and Southeast Asian restaurant-booking platform Eatigo in 2023. It has also brought strategic investors into the business, including KKday in its Series B and now Hotai Motor in its Series C. The company operates across seven markets: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan, with FunNow, Eatigo and Niceday forming its core consumer-facing portfolio. The company is also moving toward the public markets. FUNNOW entered the IPO counseling process with Taishin Securities on July 23, 2026, marking the beginning of its formal preparations for a potential listing. Taiwanese reporting has confirmed the advisory agreement and described the group's seven-market footprint and international revenue expansion. Testing a more integrated travel booking model. The Hotai investment therefore represents more than a capital injection for FUNNOW. It combines strategic funding, a concrete distribution and booking integration, access to a large corporate ecosystem and a potential pathway toward broader AI-enabled booking infrastructure. The Japan launch provides the first practical test of that strategy. By connecting chicTrip's travel discovery and itinerary planning capabilities with FUNNOW's real-time booking inventory, the companies are attempting to bring planning and transactions closer together within a single travel journey. For FUNNOW, the larger question is whether this model can extend beyond one platform and one market. Its existing seven-market footprint, acquisition-led expansion, AI strategy and IPO preparations suggest that the company is entering a phase where scaling its booking infrastructure through strategic partners could become as important as growing its own consumer applications. Quick takeaways. * FUNNOW Group has secured a $10 million strategic investment from Hotai Motor, giving Hotai an approximately 10% stake in the company. * The investment also launches a partnership with Hotai's chicTrip travel platform, with the integration starting in Japan and connecting travel planning with real-time restaurant and experience bookings. * FUNNOW will use the new capital to expand internationally, deepen its AI capabilities and prepare for an IPO, following the start of its IPO counseling process with Taishin Securities in July 2026. * FUNNOW is shifting toward a "B2AI2C" model, positioning its booking infrastructure to power strategic partners and AI-driven interfaces alongside its consumer platforms. * The partnership could extend beyond chicTrip, with FUNNOW CEO TK Chen telling AsiaTechDaily that Hotai's broader ecosystem could create additional commercial opportunities as the relationship develops.

Hotai Motor has invested $10 million in FunNow, acquiring approximately 10% in preferred shares at $1.10 per share. The investment comes as FunNow, Taiwan's urban leisure booking platform, undergoes listing preparation procedures. FunNow operates across seven Asian markets including Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The platform has accumulated over 10 million users and partners with more than 16,000 merchants, with overseas revenue exceeding 50% of total revenue. The company signed a listing advisory contract with Taishin Securities in August 2026, beginning formal preparations for Taiwan's capital market. The listing process typically requires one to three years of guidance and review. For Hotai Motor, Taiwan's largest car dealer and distributor of Toyota, Lexus, and HINO, the investment extends beyond automotive services into urban consumer platforms. The stake provides both potential financial returns and strategic alignment with Hotai's expansion into consumer services, complementing initiatives like their OpenHub car wash platform.