Indonesia’s leading gadget price comparison portal Pricebook has announced an undisclosed amount of funding from Japanese venture capital Global Brain Corporation, and two other Singaporean venture capitalist IMJ Investment Partners and Hiro Mashita, founder & director of m&s Partners. The company’s US$150,000 seed investment was secured from Incubate Fund in 2013.
Pricebook aggregates the product details, reviews and prices of consumer electronics into its shopping search engine, with the aim of providing an enjoyable shopping experience for both customers and sellers. The site offers price comparison, and enables consumers and businesses to respond to each side’s requests and traditional purchasing/selling behaviors. Consumers can use the active reviews and forum threads to find answers to their questions, while Pricebook provides shop exposure and market data to support sellers’ online marketing.
Aiming to bring their experience to huge, fast-growing markets, Pricebook expanded to Indonesia and Southeast Asia in December 2013, shortly after being founded in Japan in September that year. The company has established local offices and been developing its services to suit the various markets since then.
The company disclosed that it now caters to hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors and more than ten thousand gadget retailers (including several hundred active offline shops).
With this latest investment, Pricebook will further accelerate its moves to evolve into a marketing platform as well as expanding its team and accelerating partner acquisition.
Founded by Tomonori Tsuji, an online marketing and media development expert, the company now has a team of 12 members, mainly focusing on Indonesian merchandise such as mobile phones, computers, and other electronics.
Image credit: Pricebook
Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)