Singapore's financial portal MoneySmart raises US $ 10 million from Kakaku.com and others in Series B ——Strengthens its presence in the Asia Pacific region | BRIDGE Technology & Startup Information

Singapore's personal financial portal MoneySmart has raised S $ 14 million (US $ 10 million) in a Series B round led by Japanese online service provider Kakaku.com. As an existing investor, he also participated in the round with the SPH Media Fund and Golden Gate Ventures.

MoneySmart will use the funds raised this time to strengthen its presence in Singapore and Indonesia and expand into new regions. Specifically, in addition to strengthening marketing activities, the entire team will hire new personnel such as platforms, content, business development, and marketing.

Kakaku.com's Group Business Strategy Headquarters (General Manager of Corporate Strategy Office) Senior Executive Officer, Mita Sugihara, says there is a clear synergistic effect between MoneySmart and Kakaku.com's business model.

Just as MoneySmart helps consumers get the best financial advice, Kakaku.com has a business that helps consumers get the tools they need, he explains. For example, the company's price comparison tools help Japanese consumers find the cheapest products.

The interesting thing about Kakaku.com is that it offers a variety of services in different industries under individual brands (according to Sugihara, some consumers have noticed that Kakaku.com operates all of these portals. Not). For example, the restaurant user reviews and ranking site "Tabelog" and the curation site "Kinarino" specializing in daily life.

Sugihara says he was impressed with his ability to win both developed and emerging markets (Singapore) and emerging markets (Indonesia).

The partnership with MoneySmart is more than just a financial backing. Kakaku.com will "share knowledge" with his MoneySmart. Kakaku.com's ultimate goal is to expand its business in Southeast Asia. To do that, we need to learn about local markets and user habits, and MoneySmart will be a good starting point, Sugihara said.

Founded in 2009, his MoneySmart began with a service that provides information about mortgage packages in Singapore. Currently, it provides 17 types of personal financial information such as credit cards, insurance, loans, and bank accounts.

The growth rate of the number of users has increased by 40% since 2015. According to MoneySmart, the current average monthly number of unique visitors is 700,000.

His founder and CEO, Vinod Nair, told his e27 about his plans for the future:

Specifically, he says MoneySmart has two sides, he says. The first is the content aspect, which includes, for example, teaching users how to start investing. The second aspect is as a platform for understanding investor information and risk appetite.

[Via e27] @ e27co

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