Shopback to acquire BNPL player hoolah

CASHBACK start-up ShopBack will acquire 100 per cent of buy now pay later (BNPL) platform hoolah for an undisclosed amount, the company said in a press statement on Tuesday (Nov 2).

The acquisition will see ShopBack extend hoolah's BNPL offering to over 8,000 merchants on its platform, and offer this payment option to shoppers across nine markets in Asia Pacific, including Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

ShopBack has recently raised a US$40 million funding round from investors such as Temasek, East Ventures, January Capital and Indies Capital, valuing the startup at about US$539.4 million according to data from VentureCap Insights. Temasek led the round with a US$32.5 million investment.

"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 chief executive officer of ShopBack.

BNPL has been under scrutiny by regulators recently, even as BNPL players are seeing valuations boom. Australian BNPL player, Afterpay, was recently acquired by payment gateway Square for US$29 billion, while fintech start-up FinAccel, which also includes BNPL offering, Kredivo, intends to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a US$2.5 billion deal.

This acquisition also comes after reports of layoffs from hoolah, which also saw co-founder and then chief executive officer, Stuart Thornton leave the company.

"We look forward to realising our growth ambitions alongside ShopBack as we expand our offerings to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region," said Arvin Singh, co-founder and chief executive officer, hoolah.

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