Malaysia’s iPrice Group bags $1.5m from S Korean foodtech firm Woowa Brothers

Woowa Brothers, the south Korean food delivery giant, continues to bet on the fast-growing e-commerce sector in Southeast Asia, this time investing $1.5 million in Malaysia-based e-commerce aggregator platform iPrice Group.

“As the SEA’s e-commerce market develops, the competition among e-commerce platforms is intensifying, and the number of sellers is increasing. We believe that iPrice’s role of helping users find the right platform and save money will continue to be vital to the region,” said Woowa Senior Investment Associate Joshua Dhong.

The investment is the second funding received by iPrice group as it works towards a Series C funding round amidst the global pandemic that continues to rip through the region.

Established in 2014, iPrice now operates in seven countries across Southeast Asia, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

The startup says it tracks about 1.5 billion products at more than 1,500 merchant partners across Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong — offering consumers e-commerce deals in categories like electronics, fashion, toys, automotive, and health and beauty.

The Malaysian-based company said it will utilize the latest funding to refine further its product and accelerate the rollout of partnerships, as user preferences have evolved over the last years, expecting seamless shopping experiences through platforms they’re engaged in.

Currently, iPrice has successful partnerships with the likes of Home Credit (Indonesia), Thairath (Thailand), GoRewards (Philippines), Boost (Malaysia), ViSenze (Singapore), or for example SmartPay (Vietnam).

“Consumers increasingly expect shopping experiences embedded in their phones – be it in various apps or even in the native camera apps for visual shopping, ” said iPrice Group Chief Executive Officer Paul Brown-Kenyon.

“We built a product to bring e-commerce to those places, becoming the prime partner for leading platforms and super apps in the region,” he added.

According to a report by a research firm PPRO, the region’s e-commerce market is expected to grow by 5.5%, with  Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam leading the charge.