INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
ShopBack, a Singapore-based startup that offers cashback and consumer rewards in Asia Pacific, has closed a $45 million round led by new
investors Rakuten Capital and EV Growth.Founded in 2014, the startup had been relatively under-the-radar until late 2017, when it announced
a $25 million investment that funded expansion into Australia, among other things
Economic Development Board
ShopBack has now raised close to $85 million from investors, which also include Credit Saison Blue Sky, AppWorks, SoftBank Ventures Korea,
Singtel Innov8 and Qualgro.The investment will see Amit Patel, who leads Rakuten -owned cashback service Ebates, and EV Growth managing
partner Willson Cuaca, join the board
Cuaca is a familiar face as his East Ventures firm, which launched EV Growth alongside Yahoo Japan Capital and SMDV last year, was an early
investor in ShopBack, while the addition of Patel is potentially very significant for the startup
Indeed, when I previously wrote about ShopBack, I compared the startup directly to Ebates, which was bought by Rakuten for $1 billion in
lot has changed in the last year and a half; Ebates has a very strong focus on the U.S
like e-commerce, ride hailing, food delivery, online travel and more
It has moved offline, too, with a new service for discovering and paying for food, which initially launched in Singapore.ShopBack said it
saw a 250 percent growth in sales and orders last year, which translated to nearly $1 billion in sales for its merchant partners
The company previously said it handled $400 million in 2017
It added that it typically handles more than 2.5 million transactions for upwards of seven million users.(Left to right) Henry Chan,
co-founder and CEO of ShopBack, welcomes new board member Amit Patel, CEO of Rakuten-owned Ebates [Image via ShopBack]Chan said that, since
the previous funding round, ShopBack has seen its business in emerging markets like Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines take off and
eclipse its efforts in more developed countries like Singapore
Still, he said, the company benefits from the diversity of the region.
Markets like Singapore and Taiwan, where online spending is more
1,300 percent between May 2018 and March 2019
looking closer to home, with Vietnam its upcoming target
is currently hiring for a general manager to head up the soon-to-launch Vietnam business.Already, though, the company is beginning to think
about reaching beyond Asia Pacific
