Singapore parenting app raises $22m Series D
East Ventures has led a USD 22m round for Singapore’s Parentinc, which claims that its flagship brand, theAsianparent, is Southeast Asia’s largest parenting platform.
Central Retail Corporation and WHG Holdings also participated, while DBS Bank contributed venture debut financing as part of the round. The equity component comprised a mix of primary and secondary investments.
It comes within a month of an investment of undisclosed size from a Southeast Asian division of Japan’s Line Corporation. The tie-up will explore digital advertising projects in the mother-and-baby category across Asia Pacific.
TheAsianparent raised an approximately USD 10m Series C round led by Fosun RZ Capital in 2019 with support from WHG, ATM Capital, JD.com, Redbadge Pacific, and Global Grand Leisure. In the meantime, there have been investments from the likes of Mirae Asset Capital, Naver Corporation, and SCB 10X, the VC arm of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank.
TheAsianparent began as a parenting blog in 2009 and went on to establish a portfolio of content and women’s community platforms covering Southeast Asia, India and Africa. In addition to social networking, services include curated articles from parenting experts, a baby milestone tracker, a photo booth and editor, as well as contests and polls for parents.
The platform now has about 35m monthly users, compared to 23.5m at the time of the Fosun round in mid-2019. It is targeting an Asia Pacific baby care products market said to be growing at 8% a year and set to be worth USD 48b by 2026.
Parentinc also owns and operates direct-to-consumer brand Mama’s Choice, which manufactures and retails natural and Halal pregnancy, nursing, baby care, and household products. These are designed and tested in Singapore for the Asia market.
The fresh capital will support expansion efforts in Asia and globally, with theAsianparent and Mama’s both planned to enter three new markets within the year. Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam have previously been flagged as geographies of interest.
“Working with the EV [East Ventures] team has been an absolute joy and I am stoked to have Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures, join our board,” Roshni Mahtani Cheung, Parentinc founder and CEO, said in a statement.
“With EV’s expertise and pristine track record in creating unicorns across Asia, we look forward to simulating their successes and deepening our presence in Indonesia and across the region.”
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