Snapcart, an Indonesia-based startup that runs a service offering consumers rewards in exchange for scans of their shopping receipts, has closed $1.675 million in funding just four months after launch.
The round — which is described as “pre-Series A” — is led by new investors Wavemaker Partners and Singapore Press Holding’s SPH Media Fund, with participation from existing backers SMDV (Sinar Mas Digital Ventures) and Ardent Capital. The raise comes as the startup begins to explore at overseas expansion options in Southeast Asia, a region of more than 600 million people.
As we wrote back in September when Snapcart opened its doors to the public, the startup’s concept is interesting. Its business is two-fold. On one side, it allows consumers to scan their store receipts in exchange for cashback and rewards… because everyone likes free stuff.
On the other side of the business, information from receipts is funneled back into Snapcart’s data troves where it is compiled and used to provide clients — such as a consulting agencies — with reports and information about consumer spending and shopping habits. That’s unique because tracking offline commerce is no easy task. Doorstepping people at home, in-store surveys and other such strategies tend to fall someway short of the mark, particularly when compared to actual sales receipt data.
Reynazran Royono, Snapcart’s CEO and founder, told TechCrunch in an interview that the company has scaled faster than initially anticipated. (Indeed, this funding round has been wrapped up a few months ahead of schedule.)
“The amount of data we’re receiving is humongous,” Royono said, disclosing also that Snapcart for Android has clocked 150,000 downloads and counts 85,000 monthly active users in Indonesia. “Now we can look into expanding the services that we provide.”
By that, he means that Snapcart will push beyond its initial focus on FMCG goods into other as-yet-undisclosed verticals. The company is exploring support for other types of receipts and even options for stores that do not have the capacity to print receipts — such as small retailers and mom and pop vendors. An iOS app is also under development and close to release. With two apps on the market, the aim is to hit one million downloads by the end of the year, Snapcart disclosed.
Beyond tech, Snapcart is investigating regional expansion options, too. It has added Philippines-based Mayeth Condicion, a former market research director at Procter and Gamble, to its team as chief data officer and co-founder. Condicion will be based in Manilla, which will be Snapcart’s first international expansion and soon home to its data analytics team. Jakarta, Indonesia, will remain its technology hub.
In bringing on SPH and Singapore-based Wavemaker as investors, Snapcart has clearly shown an ambition to be present across the Southeast Asian region, and it said that one other market expansion is planned for this year.
Snapcart is looking at raising a Series A by mid-2016 to push those expansion plans and the multi-vertical focus onwards.
Royono, who previously worked as a consultant for Procter and Gamble and Boston Consulting, believes that his company’s concept is unique in Southeast Asia — Ibotta, backed by $20 million, has a similar model in the U.S.. Beyond technology, he told us that he feels that his team’s experience and knowledge of the consulting and market research clients that they serve is tough to replicate.
“[Snapcart is]Â being built by professionals who know their stuff. [Copying our]Â technology is one thing, but gaining access to the network we have is not easily accessible,” he explained.