$20 million company in 2 years? Here’s how iMoney’s Bruno Araujo did it

When iMoney launched in 2012, its founders had ambitious targets: become Malaysia’s number one personal financial comparison website in a year and expand into other Southeast Asian markets over a five-year horizon.

Two years and three rounds of funding later, iMoney couldn’t be happier to announce it not only achieved those targets ahead of time, it did more: it grew to a US$20 million company.

One of iMoney’s founders, Bruno Araujo, came to a meetup hosted by Tech in Asia and Kickstart Ventures in Manila this week to talk about the company’s growth.

According to him, the group generates approximately 1.5 million unique visits on its websites per month, up 500 percent from the levels at the start of the year. It is now a leading player in the region, having maintained a relationship with more than 50 financial institutions across six markets (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong), and grown its team from three to 75.

iMoney’s story is undoubtedly exceptional, and one many entrepreneurs can only dream of. After all, who grows that big that fast?

But its journey – the challenges it faced and lessons it learned – is something most entrepreneurs for sure can relate to.

Knowing what consumers need

iMoney began like how most startups do: with an idea.

After working 10 years at consumer banks in the UK, then transferring to head CIMB’s product management in Malaysia in 2011, Araujo says he felt “frustrated” that acquisitions of financial products like loans and credit cards were mostly happening via bank branches and through mobile sales people. “Not a lot were happening online,” he shares.

It was ironic though because he says most people tend to go online to research these financial products even before deciding to go into a branch.

From a banker’s perspective, he thought – what other way can you market your products to these customers without having to spend millions to put up, say, a network of 300 branches?

Together with Khailee Ng, who’s now with global investment firm 500 Startups, Araujo decided to “do something.”

“It was a good idea and we said we should put money in and get someone to run it.” That’s how iMoney was born.

iMoney’s online platform allows consumers to compare and apply for loans, credit cards, and other products and services from partner banks. It is also a way for banks to reach out to potential clients at a lower cost.