ShopBack, an Rakuten-backed ecommerce loyalty platform, today announced it would acquire Hoolah, a buy now, pay later startup. Both companies are located in Singapore and have operations in Southeast Asian markets. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ShopBack will acquire all of Hoolah. However, the BNPL brand, app, and website will remain in operation after the merger closes. Henry Chan, ShopBack's founder and chief executive officer, told TechCrunch. ShopBacks platform will get new features as a result of the merger. It will no longer be a loyalty app that allows e-commerce purchases but it will now allow transactions with BNPL options.
ShopBack also acquired Ebates Korea and Seedly, a personal finance community.
ShopBack has raised $126 million from investors such as Rakuten and Temasek Holdings. EV Growth, EDBI, East Ventures, and EV Growth. It is currently used by approximately 30 million shoppers at 8,000 merchants across nine Asia-Pacific countries.
Hoolahs was founded in 2018 by iGlobe Partners and Accelerasia Ventures. Genting Ventures is Maximilian Bittner (the founder and former chief executive of Lazada Group). The BNPL service allows shoppers to pay for their purchases in three installments without interest. It is currently available at 2,000 merchants in Singapore and Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
