super mom, a parenting platform with 20 million users across six countries in Southeast Asia, offers parents price comparisons, community and the chance to earn money by completing surveys.For brands, it gives them a way to conduct market research and collect first-party data, which is crucial for marketers preparing post cookie world.
The Singapore-based startup announced today that it has raised an oversubscribed Series A round of S$8 million (~US$6 million) led by Qualgro, with participation from AC Ventures. Supermom currently has operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, and plans to expand into more markets. Over 200 consumer brands use Supermom for marketing research, including Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble, and Philips.
Founded by Joan Ong, Luke Lim, Lynn Yeoh and Rebecca Koh, Supermom originally started in 2013 as a platform for community groups and live events. “Being a mother is quite a lonely journey, and I want to support other parents,” said Ong. The next five years were mainly focused on Singapore. Then in 2019, the team at Supermom decided to expand across Southeast Asia, so they shifted their focus from community events to digital marketing.
Supermom’s enterprise market research platform allows brands to conduct market tests with very targeted demographics. Its backend tracks parental demographics in its database, including aggregated data about children’s ages, occupations, and interests. In addition to writing reviews or participating in surveys, parents can apply to become brand ambassadors through Supermom, and when they apply, brands can see how many followers they have on social media and which groups they belong to.
Qualgro Partners with Jeremy Soh and Neo WeiSheng and Supermom Founders Rebecca Koh, Joan Ong, Lynn Yeoh and Luke Lim
Quantitative surveys of about 1,000 people, which would normally take months to complete, can be done in an hour through Supermom, Lim said. Surveys can be conducted simultaneously in six countries and specific users are invited to participate in the survey. To conduct the survey, brands select a country and then filter for specific demographics, such as the age of children. Supermom’s platform also guides them through the process of writing questions.
In addition to their own surveys, brands can also get information like the Brand Index, or a ranking of which brands consumers trust most. This data can be segmented by demographic—for example, researchers can look to see if a brand is used by 50 percent of mothers over 30, and narrow it down by disposable income levels.
Supermom will use the new funds for its data and product capabilities, as well as expansion in Southeast Asia.
“As companies move into a cookie-free world, it’s very, very important to reach consumers directly,” said Ong. “Because they can no longer do retargeting and use cookies to target consumers. So with our millions of users, we’re helping a lot of brands get this critical first-party data so they can actually reach their Target Audience.”
In a statement about the financing, Qualgro general partner Weisheng Neo said: “We recognize that brands currently have a gap in accessing reliable and secure parental data, which is a large and growing customer base. Brands will find Supermom Platforms are treasure troves of insight and first-party data activation.”
