AI-powered analytics startup Snapcart raises US$10M to expand beyond Indonesia, Philippines

Jakarta-headquartered startup Snapcart, which operates an Artificial Intelligence-powered app that gives offline shoppers cashback for scanning their receipts, has secured US$10 million in Series A round of funding, led by existing investor Vickers Venture Partners. 

Other investors who have participated in the round include Wavemaker Partners, Social Capital, Kickstart Ventures and Endeavor Catalysts.

This is Snapcart’s third institutional round of funding. Earlier, it raised US$3 million in pre-Series A led by Vickers Venture Partners, Wavemaker Partners and SPH Media Fund in March this year. Prior to this, back in January 2016, Snapcart had raised a pre-Series A bridge round of US$1.7 million from Wavemakers, SPH Media Fund, SMDV (Sinar Mas Digital Ventures), and Ardent Capital.

“Snapcart’s goal is to empower companies to get valuable insights into customer data to help them allocate their Marketing efforts more efficiently,” said Snapcart Founder and CEO Reynazran Royono. “We really believe our product is essential for the modern marketer, as they can react in real time to changes and trends in consumer behaviour. This capital allows our company to expand into new markets, improve the current technology and further advance our product.

In a separate interview with e27, Royono said that within this year, Snapcart plans to launch a new platform that will tackle the unstructured trade information, that is stores who do not have cashier (hence do not produce receipts).

“We also have plans to expand to multiple countries in the next two to three years,” he said without sharing details. As of today, Snapcart also has operations in the Philippines besides Indonesia, and recently opened a Singapore office to focus on business development and client acquisition.

Established in 2015, Snapcart provides real-time offline shopper and consumer insights to brands. The app collects massive amount of purchase data, analyse and offer to brands on a real time basis with shopper rich information. This way, the app brings brands closer to a holistic understanding of shoppers.

Snapcart can also identify optimal promotion level to maximise revenue, help evaluate media spend effectiveness, and deep dive into purchasing habits. As of today, Snapcart has partnered with over 75 brands of fast-moving consumer goods companies in Southeast Asia. The app claims to have over 700.000 users.

“Given the majority of purchases are still happening offline, our priority is to still focus to purchases in offline channels. As we grow, we will definitely explore ways to also track purchases happening in online channels to provide a more complete share of wallet between offline and online channels,” Royono added.

Dr Jeffrey Chi, Vice Chairman at Vickers Venture Partner, said: “The marketing industry is amidst a shift into Artificial Intelligence and the number of consumers with a mobile device have skyrocketed. We believe that our investment will drive the Snapcart team to further scale their product and to expand into new markets.”