S’pore firm ShopBack acquires hoolah to accelerate BNPL offerings to merchants and shoppers

Singapore’s shopping and rewards startup ShopBack is acquiring buy now pay later (BNPL) platform hoolah.

It received consent from the shareholders of hoolah for a 100 per cent acquisition of the company.

The purchase supports the “shared vision” of ShopBack and hoolah to “build the world’s most rewarding commerce enablement platform”.

Through the acquisition, hoolah will accelerate its growth with a platform to extend its BNPL offering to over 8,000 merchants and 30 million shoppers across nine markets in the Asia-Pacific.

Meanwhile, ShopBack will further enhance its suite of shopping tools and rewards by offering shoppers a responsible, convenient, and flexible payment option at checkout.

Acquisition “unlocks value” for both startups

“We see significant synergies between ShopBack’s and hoolah’s product lines. Together as one, we unlock value by providing a broader platform of new capabilities and services for shoppers and merchants alike,” said Henry Chan, co-founder and CEO of ShopBack.

Through the acquisition, Henry said that shoppers can get the best deals and rewards, and more flexible payment options, on a single platform.

Merchant partners can access a large pool of high-intent shoppers, and achieve higher conversions and basket sizes, he added.

“Combined with ShopBack’s position as the market-leading publisher and shopping companion across the Asia-Pacific, will transform the shopping experience for shoppers, while providing a one-stop solution for demand generation and user engagement for merchants across the Asia-Pacific,” ShopBack said in the acquisition announcement.

There are also plans to charge up the BNPL sector with this deal.

“Our best-in-class technology and rich transaction data will enable us to further accelerate the development of the BNPL sector across the Asia-Pacific,” Henry said.

hoolah to expand its offerings with ShopBack

Launched in 2018 in Singapore, hoolah has supported more than 250,000 shoppers “shop smarter” with it BNPL offerings.

Today, it works with over 2,000 online and in-store merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Its partners include Secretlab, Zalora, and Zenyum.

With the deal, hoolah’ s co-founder and CEO Arvin Singh said the startup looks forward to realising its growth ambitions alongside ShopBack as it expands its offerings to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Featured Image Credit: ShopBack, hoolah