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The PurelyB team.

It’s that season again – when people reflect on the things that happened in the past year and on what they want to start doing or undoing in the coming year. Many are probably on a personal mission to go on diets, exercise more, and just be healthy. Yet they don’t know exactly what to do, where to go, or how to get started.

PurelyB, an all-women Malaysia-based startup that today announced a US$500,000 seed round (roughly RM 2.1 million), seeks to make a difference in this area.

Available in English and Chinese, PurelyB claims it’s building Asia’s first health and wellness content integrated marketplace. The platform is holistic in the sense that it covers all aspects of wellness (nutrition, fitness, psychology, relationships) and provides consumers the convenience of a list of places to buy healthy goods and services. By 2016, these products and services will be available for purchase from merchants directly on PurelyB’s site.

“People in Asia are becoming increasingly health conscious, but it’s extremely difficult for them to find local healthy options. Everything is too fragmented,” explains Jesrina Arshad, PurelyB’s co-founder and CEO. “We recognized the need for having this central solution. People want an easier and more convenient way to get information and access to products and services they need to lead healthier lifestyles. There’s a huge gap in the market, which we intend to fill and positively impact people’s lives.”

With the US$500,000 funding from Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups, Brunsfield Ventures, and an angel investor, PurelyB will further develop its technology, solidify its presence in its home market and in Singapore, and expand to new markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific is the market showing the biggest growth in the global health and wellness industry, with expected retail sales of over US$200 billion in 2015 alone, according to the company.

“Nothing more exciting than adding rocket fuel to what’s already an unstoppable train,” says 500 Startups managing partner Khailee Ng of PurelyB. “Jesrina’s team has achieved so much on their own. I can’t wait to see what they’ll achieve with an additional US$500,000.”

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