iPrice Group wins US$5m funding, plans to grow app users

IPrice Group has raised US$5 million in additional funding which will be used to bolster its role in finding shoppers the best deals. The capital was raised from Japan-based firms Itochu Corporation and the KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (operated by Global Brain Corporation).

While the company was unable to reveal how much of the funding will be used in marketing, its spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that iPrice will focus on two areas - its iPrice app and expanding its services to the lending market. With Itochu as part of iPrice's capitalisation table, the first step in its key strategic cooperation will be adding Itochu's subsidiary, Payku, as a key lending partner in Indonesia. Aside from Payku, iPrice’s other lending partners include Home Credit (Indonesia), Julo (Indonesia), Cashalo (Philippines), Smartpay (Vietnam), and ZIP (Singapore, launching in H1 2022).

Group CEO Paul Brown-Kenyon said besides comparing products, prices, sellers' reputations, and delivery conditions, the company is continually deepening its expertise to help shoppers in various ways - be it aggregating seller vouchers, creating an app that alerts users of their desired products' price drops, or finding the cheapest loans to fund their purchases.

This year, iPrice will be focused on getting online shoppers onto its app and enable them to discover its value and help consumers make well-informed decisions on shopping online. Last year, more than 125 million unique users across the Southeast Asia region used iPrice platform. 

While the team does not plan to expand into new markets at the moment, its spokesperson said iPrice is on the lookout for talent and senior executives in several areas, including digital marketing, content operations, account management, product management, operations, business development, product design, technology, business intelligence, and finance. 

Two years ago, the company bagged US$10 million in funding and the funds went towards improving its current platform, raising its visibility through search engines. Its spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that one of iPrice's key focus areas will be on non-English markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. These countries were identified to have huge potential for growth, mainly due to the high volume of online shoppers.

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