SE Asian e-commerce aggregator raises $10 million fund for expansion

MANILA, Philippines — E-commerce aggregator iPrice Group has raised $10 million in funding from a group of investors. The $10 million will help the firm improve user experience as well as grow the number of its partner merchants.

The bulk of the $10 million Series B investment was made by ACA Investments Pte Ltd, with participation by Daiwa PI Partners, while the remaining was funded by returning investors Line Ventures and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

“With this funding round in place, iPrice is set to become the region’s best online shopping companion platform and the key e-commerce enabler for super apps,” the company said.

iPriceGroup CEO and co-founder David Chmelar said proceeds of the funding would be used to provide users a much better experience as well to multiply the number of partner merchants it provides services to.

“In terms of geography, we want to focus on Southeast Asia. We believe there is much opportunity to work on[here],”Chmelar said in a media briefing.

“The investment will go to all countries, but there will be a particular focus in the non-English terrorist – Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam,” he added.

iPriceGroup is the leading e-commerce aggregator in Southeast Asia, specifically in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong,with 1.5 billion products available from more than 1,500 merchant partners.

In 2019,the company registered five million transactions made on the iPrice platform and recorded more than 20 million monthly visitors.

“The e-commerce industry in Southeast Asia is at its emerging stage and we see its huge potential. iPrice Group will play an important role, especially with its comprehensive coverage of markets in Southeast Asia. It’s the prime gateway to online shopping,” said ACA Investments Pte Ltd chief investment officer Tomohiro Fujita.

For his part, Daiwa PI Partners director Hirofumi Imamura emphasized that iPrice has the potential to become the biggest e-commerce aggregator in the entire Asian continent.

“Aside from this, iPrice’s strong management, deep understanding of SEA’s consumer behavior, and diverse, talented staff from various countries have given us the confidence to invest in this company. It has so much potential to grow further,” he said.

iPrice Group received an earlier investment from Line Ventures, the venture arm of Line corp., in 2018.

With the new round of investment, iPriceGroup aims to be the best online shopping companion in the region.

“As part of its objective, iPrice is expanding beyond price comparison as it gives consumers a lot of opportunities for product discovery,” the company said.

It added that it will provide its users with a list of the most popular products, professional product reviews, and in-depth information about sellers. Consumers will also be offered the best bargains by curating the best coupons and deals every day.

“With the fast-changing nature of the online ecosystem, consumers often find themselves at a loss. Given the rapid rise and fall of e-commerce players, online shoppers are in need of one platform that aggregates endless products and merchants,” iPriceGroup said.

In line with this, iPrice said it aims to make the consumers’ shopping experience easier by being present for them in every avenue of online shopping.

“To pursue our next journey, we need to be where the consumers are. We need to engage users directly on our platform, continue our strong presence on Google as it remains a vital starting point for many shoppers, and enable partners across the region, such as media platforms, social media apps, and all the emerging super apps, to provide e-commerce content for their audience,” Chmelar said.