ShopBack, the Singapore-based operator of a retail loyalty and rewards platform, completed a $75m funding round today featuring e-commerce firm Rakuten.
Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek led the round, which included another state-owned investor, EDBI, as well as EV Growth – the VC firm co-founded by corporates Yahoo Japan and Sinar Mas – in addition to Cornerstone Ventures and 33 Capital.
The $45m first tranche was closed in April 2019 and was co-led by EV Growth and Rakuten subsidiary Rakuten Capital with backing from EDBI and unnamed existing investors.
ShopBack runs an online consumer cashback rewards platform with more than 19 million registered users spanning seven countries across the Asia Pacific region. It also operates an in-store rewards app called ShopBack Go in Singapore.
The expanded round will be used to beef up ShopBack’s technology and in particular its data capabilities. It already maintains research and development centres in Singapore, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Henry Chan, ShopBack’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “As the frontrunner in the rewards space, ShopBack is in a great position to capture an outsized portion of the online shopping boom.
“Product innovation and customer focus are at the core of ShopBack, and we are proud to have transformed the rewards industry by providing users with a simple and seamless way to save while shopping. With the new funding, we will develop new features to help our users save even more money and time by making smarter buying decisions.”
The company said it has now received a total of $113m in funding, $25m coming in a 2017 round led by payment services firm Credit Saison and backed by telecommunications firms InTouch Holdings, SoftBank and Singapore Telecommunications.
The latter two invested through their SoftBank Ventures Asia and Singtel Innov8 units. The round also featured 33 Capital, Qualgro VC, East Ventures, Blue Sky Ventures, Aetius Capital and AppWorks. ShopBack named SoftBank Ventures Korea, Singtel Innov8, East Ventures and Qualgro as existing backers.
