VC-backed iMoney gets funding from Australia's iSelect

The capital will be used to accelerate growth, strengthen the management team and investment in technology. A substantial portion has been earmarked for iMoney's regional subsidiaries in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Founded in 2012, the iMoney platform allows consumers to compare financial products such as home loans, personal loans and credit cards, and also apply for these products online. It works with 50 financial institutions across six countries, enabling bricks-and-mortar banks to acquire customers at lower cost.

The company claims to be the leading personal finance comparison service in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, generating 1.5 million unique visitors a month, up 500% from January 2014. In the past year alone, it has originated $1.2 billion in home loans and 65,000 credit card and personal loan applications.

Asia Venture Group provided iMoney with $500,000 in seed capital in 2013 and later the same year Jungle Ventures led a Series A round worth $2 million. Other investors included IMJ Fenox, Fenox Venture Capital, Redbright Partners, 500 Startups and Vogel Ventures, as well as German internet group Econa.

"Moving forward, our business focus will be on rapidly expanding our web presence to broker more deals with financial institutions as well as to provide greater web content that is relevant to our consumers. Beyond continued organic growth, we are also evaluating a number of acquisition opportunities in the Southeast Asia Region with a view to growing even faster," Ching-Wei Lee, iMoney's CEO and founder, said in a statement.

Damien Waller, executive chairman of iSelect, drew parallels between iMoney's current stage of evolution and iSelect 10 years ago. The company offers comparison services and advice on more than 12,500 insurance, energy, personal finance and broadband products from over 85 partner providers.

Driven by a website that attracts more than 7 million unique visitors each year, iSelect distributes one in five of all private health insurance policies in Australia. It sees iMoney as a means of boosting its exposure to Southeast Asia's high-growth consumer markets.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Venture
• Financials
• Technology
• Southeast Asia
• Australasia
• Financial Services
• Venture
• TMT
• Southeast Asia
• Jungle Ventures
• Australia