eEquity invests in Refunder – market leader for social- and cashback shopping in Sweden
eEquity, a leading investor in Nordic Internet and Internet retailing companies, is today announcing that eEquity III leads an investment round of SEK 37 million in the Swedish company Refunder Scandinavia AB which is the largest social- and cashback shopping site in Sweden. Refunder will now make significant investments in marketing to increase the member database to over 600,000 members that get money back when they shop online.
eEquity invests SEK 30 million in Refunder together with SEK 7 million from existing shareholders. Refunder has since it started 2013 grown by 200% yearly with over 90% of the users recommending Refunder to a friend.
Cashback shopping is an established sector in more mature online markets like the US and UK with almost 10% of the total e-commerce going through similar sites like Refunder. The most well-known US player is Ebates recently sold to Japanese Rakuten for one billion USD and the most well-known UK player is Quidco with over 5 million members. Refunder is also developing a tool for social shopping where social influencers can get rewarded for promoting certain products or e-commerce sites.
Fredrik Ohlsson, CEO & Co-Founder Refunder comments:
“After discussions with different interest groups we found an immediate match with eEquity and their team. They have deep insights in what´s driving the e-commerce forward and has a well reputed network of contacts in Sweden as well as internationally which will be of great benefit for Refunder”, says Fredrik Ohlsson.
Magnus Wiberg Partner eEquity comments:
“When I Co-Founded Pricerunner in 1999, price comparison sites soon became the leading source of sales and traffic to e-commerce sites globally. Now when online pricing is more transparent and online prices for e-commerce sites is very similar, consumers have been looking for other ways of getting incentives and discounts when they shop. Cashback shopping sites generate almost 10% of total sales in e-commerce in the UK and our ambition with Refunder is to be the market leader in the Nordics once this market grow to similar levels.”
Refunder was founded by Fredrik Ohlsson and Victor Dahlborg who both started their carrers within the MTG and Kinnevik Group followed by several startups. Fredrik founded Zoom Vision, later sold to Nasdaq and Victor had a leading position at PriceRunner and is the founder of the certificate Trygg E-handel.
For further questions:
eEquity Partner Magnus Wiberg
+46 735 375 000
magnus@eequity.se
About eEquity
eEquity is the leading private equity company investing growth capital in e-commerce and online companies in the Nordic countries. eEquity has invested in the online sector since inception in 2010 and is managing three funds with USD 135 million under management with currently 12 companies in the portfolio. eEquity invests in entrepreneurial led growth companies with the potential to become market leaders. eEquity is backed by European leading family offices and financial institutions. eEquity is managed by Patrik Hedelin and Magnus Wiberg that are experienced internet entrepreneurs themselves with experience from boo.com and Pricerunner.
About Refunder
Refunder.se is the largest cashback site in Sweden, that gives online shoppers money back on all of their online purchases at participating stores. Today, there are over 1100 stores on Refunder and the number is growing rapidly. For online retailers, Refunder is an effective sales channel where they pay a commission only on each actual purchase. For Refunder members, getting money back on all online purchases is a strong incentive, regardless of whether there is a sale or other offers at an online store. Refunder is based in Stockholm, and also runs its business in Poland. The company was founded in spring 2013.
