M’sian affiliate marketing firm bags over US$10mil, to acquire complementary tech startups

Involve Asia (Involve), a Malaysian affiliate marketing platform, has raised over US$10 million in a funding round, according to a February 22 press release.  

As an affiliate marketing platform, Involve enables brands, affiliates, and influencers to grow their revenues through effective online partnerships. It also allows advertisers to measure, manage, and scale their marketing partnerships via its solutions.

This funding round was led by Bintang Capital Partners Berhad, the private equity arm of Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad.

Returning investors this round include 500 Global, Orbit Capital Malaysia, and Monumental Productions. Involve is also backed by established global venture capital firms such as Accord Ventures, OSK Technology Ventures, and Cradle Seed Ventures.

The marketing tech company has been growing revenue at 132% CAGR since inception while staying profitable, said Jimmy How, the CEO and co-founder of Involve.

“With the new funding and our strong fundamentals, we aim to expand our product lines and extend our services to new businesses and partners across the region,” he stated.

Time for aggressive growth

According to the press release, Involve will use the fresh funds to invest in companies that complement its business and leverage its network of clients and partners.

The company also plans to deploy a comprehensive suite of solutions that aims to increase the avenues for advertisers by leveraging on influencers and their highly engaged audience.

Involve is also expanding the team in line with its aggressive growth plans and hiring across many roles, with almost 50 positions open especially in business development, project management, product, and DevOps.

Rene E. Menezes, the president and co-founder of Involve, said that a number of “industry-changing” products are ready to be taken out of beta and will hit the market soon.

“We’re not sitting around waiting for the global uncertainty to settle,” he said. “We are in a position to invest and step on the gas while many are focused on consolidation and preserving cash.”

The age of digital advertising

According to a report by Insider Intelligence, digital advertising spending in Southeast Asia is expected to grow by 7.9% to US$4.42 billion in 2023.

Affiliate marketing is a type of digital marketing where an online retailer pays commissions to a third party—AKA the affiliates—for traffic or sales generated from its referrals.

For these retailers, though, setting up an affiliate programme from scratch can be a hassle. So, one solution is to go through an affiliate marketing platform like Involve.

Other affiliate marketing platforms in Malaysia include Indoleads, Commission Factory, and more.

Founded in 2014, Involve has established a presence across Asia starting with Malaysia, where it is headquartered, and Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It also boasts over one million partnerships with more than 580,000 website partners, influencers, and affiliates in Southeast Asia, and has generated over US$1.5 billion in sales.

Names it has worked with include multinational companies such as Lazada, Shopee, Grab, Marriott, Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, Nike, Citibank, and more.

Featured Image Credit: Involve Asia’s co-founder and CEO, Jimmy How, and Rene E. Menezes, co-founder and president.