Cross-border e-commerce platform Buyandship has raised $10m in the first closing of a Series B financing round.

The financing was led by Cool Japan Fund, a public-private fund backed by the Japanese government.

Buyandship will leverage the funds towards operations automation and carry out research and development in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. It will also expand its presence into the Southeast Asia regions.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Buyandship enables consumers to purchase any product globally through big data, global pricing comparison, social commerce and logistics technologies.

The company has a presence in 11 countries and regions, operating 11 overseas warehouses and serving 1.72 million registered users.

Last fiscal, Buyandship processed $383m in gross merchandise value through its data analytics and logistics network.

In the last year, the company used the Robotic Process Automation model to develop an automated shopping assistant to strengthen its order processing capacity.

To enhance user stickiness and engagement, the company will also integrate an AI-powered recommendation system into the Buyaholic social commerce platform.

According to Buyandship, the new solution will use an algorithm to automatically supply user-generated content based on behavioural records.

Buyandship co-founder and CEO Sheldon Li said: "Buyandship continues to realize its mission of offering consumers a simple and intuitive e-commerce experience to purchase products globally, at the most competitive pricing.

“The latest round of investment, alongside funding from the HKSTP Elite Program, will further cement Buyandship's leadership and competitiveness in space with AI-driven functionality and machine learning in its service offering, deepened community engagement and enhanced margins from warehouse automation.

“From a geographical expansion perspective, Buyandship looks forward to widening its coverage within SEA and South Korea, benefiting even more consumers in the region."