Singapore-based cashback app ShopBack has secured $75 million in an extended funding round led by Singapore’s state investor Temasek.
The round was joined by existing investors Rakuten, EDBI, EV Growth, Cornerstone Ventures, and 33 Capital. The company had announced securing $45 million as part of the round in April last year.
According to a statement, the extra capital will be deployed into enhancing ShopBack’s technology infrastructure and expanding data capabilities to unlock new business insights. These will help drive its growth across Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia.
Henry Chan, CEO and co-founder of ShopBack, said, “With the new funding, we will develop new features to help our users save even more money and time by making smarter buying decisions.”
ShopBack boasts over 19 million users across its markets, offering cashback with its 2,000- strong merchant base across general merchandise, travel bookings, fashion, health and beauty, groceries and food delivery. In Singapore, the firm has branched into brick-and-mortar stores, allowing users to claim rewards for in-store shopping, dining and entertainment.
ShopBack’s competitors include Sequoia India-backed Fave and Wavemaker-backed Snapdeal. The Singaporean firm also competes with regional super apps such as Grab that offer rewards through their digital wallets.
Temasek, meanwhile, has been paying increased attention to Asia’s tech-enabled startups, many of which are emerging as leaders in their respective sector categories. The Singapore state investor is known to be selective when it comes to direct investments in Asia’s tech sector, but in recent months has begun to show interest to deploy more capital in this fast-growing segment.
Last year, Temasek shared that it wanted to invest in Southeast Asia’s “aspiring unicorns”, typically valued at between $100 million and $1 billion, having already backed companies such as Indonesian beauty platform Sociolla, mixed martial arts (MMA) media company ONE Championship and fashion e-commerce startup Zilingo.
Temasek has made some successful exits in this space as well, including Gojek, Razer and Lazada, and hopes to replicate its success with those investments.