Snapcart's second chance to disrupt Nielsen

The world’s biggest companies rely on Nielsen data for consumer insights despite its well-known inaccuracies. Snapcart developed a promising, digital alternative. But it took a cash crunch, a near-death experience and a pandemic to identify a sustainable business model

Snapcart raised more than US$15 million to take on market research giants with detailed consumer insight in Southeast Asia

It lures users with a cashback incentive, but spiraling costs made the model untenable and funding tough to secure

Snapcart parted with its CEO and culled two expansion markets even before the impact of the pandemic slowed revenue

But it secured a crucial funding deal in April 2020 and developed a more sustainable model for growth

Coming into 2020, Snapcart was getting desperate—its funding well was running dry. The Indonesia-headquartered startup, which uses cashback to give brands and retailers insight into consumer retail behaviour, had last raised funding—a US$10 million round— all the way back in October 2017. It’s not that the company hadn’t tried to raise money since; it just hadn’t been successful in doing so.

Snapcart needed to extend its runway, according to two venture capital executive investors in Southeast Asia who were pitched by the company. Both executives requested anonymity to avoid being seen speaking in public about a company that is not part of their portfolio.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

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