Singapore-based loan and insurance comparison platform GoBear has announced it will cease operations and shut down after facing difficulties in raising new funding.
The company said the covid-19 pandemic had created a challenging operating environment and thus it could not secure new funding from investors, according to a statement published on professional networking platform Linkedin.
Founded in 2015, GoBear has built a metasearch engine platform listing more than 2,000 products offered by banks and insurance companies across Southeast Asia.
The company acquired consumer lending app provider Asiakredit in May 2020 to bolster its Philippines-based operations and receive more of the transactional data it uses to score loan applications. It laid off 22 employees in September, representing 11% of its total staff, according to DealStreetAsia.
Two of GoBear’s co-founders, chief technology officer Ivonne Bojoh and chief commercial officer Marnix Zwart, left the company two months later.
Life insurance and asset management firm Aegon and venture capital firm Walvis Participaties had provided $17m for GoBear in May 2020 having also invested $80m through a round that closed in May 2019 to support the platform’s expansion across Asia.