Utu, a software company that aims to help travelers with duty-free shopping, announced $33 million in a funding and acquisition deal.
The investment in the company comes from SC Ventures as well as earlier funding from other Singapore-based investors.
Included in the deal is the acquisition of localized rewards platform and offers engine CardsPal, which was incubated in SC Ventures.
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Utu, also based in Singapore, plans to use the acquisition to accelerate growth and will enhance its own pay-with-points offering by integrating CardPal’s retail service.
Asad Jumabhoy, co-founder and CEO of utu, said: "The cross-border travel market is ripe for a technology-driven transformation, with tax-free shopping presenting vast untapped potential. By enhancing the value of [value added tax] and [goods and services tax] refunds for travelers, we've reimagined the cross-border retail experience and devised a technology-based business model unlocking previously inaccessible value. This strategy benefits all stakeholders —brands, hotels, airlines and VAT refund operators — while also enabling governments to compliantly recycle VAT refunds within their borders.”
Utu uses its technology to link payments, rewards and shopping and unlock more value for travelers. It already counts Accor, Air France-KLM, Emirates and Etihad among its partners.
Gautam Jain, a member at SC Ventures, said: "Through SC Ventures’ Intrapreneurship Program, CardsPal grew to become a business with [an] award-nominated [user experience]. We look forward to utu’s continued success scaling its products across the globe using CardsPal’s technology.”