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Hello readers,
Frankly speaking, Singapore’s fintech ecosystem has seen so many deals in the last six months that it’s been hard for me to keep track of them. But that’s where Tech in Asia’s fantastic team comes in. Powered by coffee and chai, this team of mavericks doesn’t just keep an ear out for all things important but also breaks them down like no one else does.
I’m not just saying that – I tried to understand why ShopBack’s acquisition of Hoolah is so significant and couldn’t find anything online except for our in-depth story on the subject.
Talking about deals, if you are a founder looking for investors, or know someone who is, fill in this form to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.
Today we look at,
- How Hoolah fits into Shopback 2.0
- Filipino firms have raised more funds in 2021 than in the past three years combined
- Other newsy highlights such as Animoca Brands and Cube Entertainment building a K-pop music-focused metaverse, and an Indonesian influencer platform raising funds.
Premium summary
Buy now, pay later continues to surprise
Image credit: Timmy Loen
After a spate of deals in the buy now, pay later space and endless stories on the subject, ShopBack’s acquisition of Hoolah shows how BNPL still holds some element of surprise.
The sale of Hoolah’s business wasn’t a surprise given its recent troubles, but it was ShopBack’s move that made us sit up. The Temasek-backed cashback platform just recently banked US$40 million.
- Timely deal for Hoolah: The deal couldn’t have come at a better time for Hoolah, which has gone through a tough time recently, even having to lay off staff.
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…and a good one for ShopBack: With BNPL, ShopBack can tap into the direct-to-consumer ecommerce wave sweeping across Asia, and reduce its reliance on major marketplaces like Shopee and Lazada. This is significant because these marketplaces had temporarily halted partnerships with ShopBack in recent months – though these have since been resumed.
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The path to customer acquisition: BNPL’s ability to quickly acquire merchants as well as users is one reason everyone wants to jump on the BNPL bandwagon.
More power to Filipino startups
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