Tickled Media raises another $7m in funding

Tickled Media, publisher of media assets, theAsianparent.com , and AsianMoneyGuide.com , has raised a US$6.7 million round. The funding round was led by Global Grand Leisure and joined by Mountain Pine Capital as well as existing investors.The company also raised additional venture debt financing from DBS Bank. This brings its total funding amount to over SG$11 million to date. Founded by Roshni Mahtani, the media-tech company has seen remarkable growth from 1 million users in 2013 to its current base of 12 million Asian women monthly users across Asia. The funding round will help the company fuel its expansion into the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam; as well as develop two additional media properties that will also target the Asian women segment.“There’s a significant market gap in that there’s really no large pan-(Southeast) Asia media company – or even a local one – just focusing on women in the entirety of their short- and long-term needs. We see this as an exciting opportunity to grow to become the largest digital media player in Southeast Asia. We are hiring aggressively and bringing in the best talent to bring that vision to life, ” Mahtani said.Chairman of Mountain Pine Capital, Paul Rogers, adds: “Tickled Media provides a far superior social network environment for its target Asian women vertical community than Facebook, with a higher level of trust providing relevant content and local tribe creation. For Advertisers targeting moms, their budget is far better allocated with accurate metrics from theAsianparent.”On the growth of Tickled Media, Carmen Yuen, Partner at Vertex Ventures, comments: “Vertex Ventures has witnessed how the company has evolved in the last three years; and is very positive about the growth of the company and its recent steps. As a woman in today’s overly complex world, I completely see the need for content and communities hyper-targeted to a woman’s life stage.”