The startup behind theAsianparent and AsianMoneyGuide bags $5m series B funding

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Women-focused online media startup Tickled Media has raised US$4.98 million in series B funding, it announced today.

Tickled Media is the company behind popular online title theAsianparent and its Indian sister site, theIndusparent. Both act as a mix of content platform and online community, targeted at “urban parents and parents-to-be.”

The startup also publishes AsianMoneyGuide, a similarly designed platform focused on personal finance issues for women.

In a statement, Tickled Media claimed that its monthly user base of women has grown from 1 million in 2013 to 12 million across Asia Pacific today.

“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,” said Tickled Media founder and CEO Roshni Mahtani.

The Singapore-based firm will use the capital to expand its presence in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, as well as to develop two new women-focused titles. Mahtani said the company will be “hiring aggressively.”

Global Grand Leisure led the series B round, with Mountain Pine Capital and several existing investors joining. Additional venture debt financing came from DBS.

Tickled Media has raised close to US$8.18 million in total funding to date.

Earlier this month, it announced a partnership with property portal 99.co to “co-represent” both companies’ digital media assets in the region, with an initial focus on Indonesia.

The deal will see the two startups offer bundle packages to property developers, financial institutions, and media agencies, allowing them to advertise across both platforms. Tickled Media and 99.co will also undertake market research projects on behalf of advertising and brand clients.

Mahtani is married to 99.co founder and CEO Darius Cheung.

Converted from Singapore dollars. Rate: US$1 = S$1.34