Thai price comparison startup gets series B to fuel growth beyond Southeast Asia

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Thai price comparison and ecommerce search engine Priceza has raised a series B round of funding, the company announced today. The funding comes from German technology and media company-cum-corporate investor Hubert Burda Media.

The funding amount is undisclosed but “in the seven-figure range.” The company says the amount is “significantly higher” than its series A round of investment in 2013, which was rumored to be around US$1 million.

As part of the deal, Hubert Burda Media, and more specifically its investment arm, Burda Principal Investment, has acquired the initial stake of previous investor CyberAgent Ventures, which gives the former a 24.9 percent stake in Priceza.

In Thailand, Priceza claims to have 7.5 million monthly active users.

Priceza offers price comparison and discovery services in six countries across Southeast Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The company claims a combined 13 million visits per month across its markets and says that Thailand and Indonesia are its biggest ones. In Thailand, it has 7.5 million monthly active users across its website and mobile app.

“For Priceza, it’s a significant milestone; recognition as a strong, international tech-based company,” says Priceza CEO and co-founder Thanawat Malabuppha. “Being backed by a strategic, global investor like HBM, who shares our mission, enables us to leverage their digital expertise and in depth media understanding to deliver the best online shopping services to consumers across Southeast Asia.”

Hubert Burda Media has also invested in Thai medical tourism startup Medical Departures and Vietnamese search engine Coc Coc. It has also contributed to VC Golden Gate Ventures’ recently completed US$60 million second fund for Southeast Asia.

“We are looking at increasing our investments in Southeast Asia, and Priceza seemed a natural choice because of how it has grown from an idea from three Thai computer engineers in 2010 to a high-profile platform spanning six countries,” says Friedrich von Scanzoni, CEO of Burda Asia.