Malaysia’s iPrice bags additional series B money from JG Summit’s VC unit

Ecommerce aggregator iPrice Group announced that it has raised an additional undisclosed amount from JG Digital Equity Ventures (JGDEV) to its series B investment.

Founded last year, JGDEV is the corporate venture capital arm of JG Summit Holdings, a Philippine conglomerate controlled by the Gokongwei family.

Photo credit: iPrice

The new funds will be used to improve user engagement and refine its core products, expanding its reach beyond those searching on Google, iPrice Group CEO Paul Brown-Kenyon told Tech in Asia.

With the partnership, JG Summit Holdings aims to help Malaysia-based iPrice reach Filipino consumers through the Gokongwei Group’s ecosystem. Using iPrice, Robinsons Rewards users can now access products from merchants across the Philippines while readers of entertainment news portal PEP.ph can access online coupons and promos.

Launched in 2014, iPrice runs three business lines: price comparison for electronics and health and beauty, product discovery for fashion and home and living, and coupons across all verticals.

How much traction has it gotten? Currently operating in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, it has five billion product listing on its platform and receives about 30 million monthly visits across the region, according to a statement.

Since social distancing measures were made, iPrice says it continues to grow in web traffic by up to 60%.

According to a Google-backed report before Covid-19, Southeast Asia’s ecommerce would reach US$180 billion by 2025. That may even rise above the projected gross merchandise volume in light of ecommerce’s recent accelerated adoption, iPrice predicts.

What are its future plans? Brown-Kenyon said the company is looking to reach profitability in the next two to three years.

“Our long-term vision – to be the ecommerce companion for the Southeast Asian region – remains clear,” he added.

What is its funding history?

• Series B round (2020): US$10 million led by ACA Investments, along with Daiwa PI Partners, Line Ventures, and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund
• Funding round (2018): US$4 million led by Line Ventures with participation from Cento Ventures and Venturra Capital
• Series A round (2016): US$4 million led by Asia Venture Group and Venturra
• Seed round (2015): US$1.2 million led by Asia Venture Group, along with 500 Startups, IMJ Investment Partners, Venturra Capital, F2 Capital, and Starstrike Ventures
• Seed round (2015): US$550,000 from Asia Venture Group