WinBuyer raises $6.9m from Pitango, Giza

The online price comparison start-up plans to expand in the US and UK, and is eying Asia.

WinBuyer president Miki Balin and VP R&D Alon Weinberg founded the company in 2005. The company has developed an onsite comparative pricing (OCP) solution to speed up consumer purchasing behavior and boost online retailers' revenue retailers by enabling price comparisons at the point of sale: the product pages. The company has offices in Tel Aviv, London, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Balin told "Globes", "We will use the proceeds to greatly boost our sales in the US. We also recently entered the British market, and we plan to expand there, too. Our present focus is on North America and Europe, but we also plan to target Asia. We want to boost our products offering and further product development."

Balin added that, until now, WinBuyer relied on angel financing and its own sources. He said that the financing round followed approached to "a very limited number of venture capital funds", and that the round was held at a fair value. The process was "fair, purposeful, and decisive. We greatly appreciate the professional collaboration with the funds."

"Globes": What is the condition of your target markets in the aftermath of the crisis?

Balin "As in all industries, online retail is recovering, and the crisis will likely actually give it a boost because more and more people are doing comparative shopping to check prices before buying. Our solution enables buyers to enter a retailer's site and see the prices of other retailers without the need of using a search engine for each price."

Why would a retailer want to install your solution? A customer might see a competitor's cheaper price.

"Our solution provides a better and safer shopping experience for the customer, and as they increase, so too does the shopping basket."

Who are your competitors?

"Our main competitors are independent developments by e-commerce sites, and there are a lot of them. I don’t know of any direct competitors. Previously, product comparison search engines offered similar products, but there were interface problems, and not all retailers could install them on their websites."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 23, 2009

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