etaily, the Philippines’ digital-native retail platform, has secured new strategic investments led by Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), through its SMBC Asia Rising fund, bringing its total funding to over $24 million. Other investors in this round include Kaya Founders, JGDEV of the Gokongwei Group, and some Asia-based families.
etaily works with consumer brands in Southeast Asia, including Levi’s, Skechers, Abbott, L’Oreal, among others. It operates the e-commerce and marketing arm of more than 80 consumer brands and combines this with brand building.
The investment comes right after Financial Times (FT) ranked etaily as the third fastest growing company in APAC, and the fastest growing in the Philippines. Only two other companies in the APAC region were from the Philippines, among 2000 peers.
Headquartered in the Philippines, etaily aims to build a multi-country cluster across Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond, enabling brands to enter and scale in Southeast Asia. A recently announced partnership with WPP Media strengthens etaily’s retail and media enablement capabilities, combining commerce infrastructure with marketing expertise. The WPP Media Partnership aims to address social commerce needs for clients in the cluster Philippines-Malaysia-Singapore, with first lifestyle brands recently onboarded in this cluster.
Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market is projected to reach $230 billion in GMV by 2026, with the Philippines identified as the fastest-growing e-commerce market globally in 2024, expanding 25% year-on-year.
According to Bain & Company, the region is expected to gain 140 million new consumers by 2030, with the Philippines leading in digital adoption. The country also records the highest online utilization rates in Southeast Asia, with users spending an average of eight hours per day on mobile devices.
Founded in 2020 by Alexander Friedhoff, etaily has processed more than 40 million orders across Lazada, Shopee, TikTok Shop and brand.com channels. Its proprietary commerce engine spans the full value chain, from brand development and operations to fulfillment and analytics, including the recently launched livestreaming, affiliates and short-term video solution.
”For the last five years, we’ve focused on building etaily into a commerce powerhouse for global brands in Southeast Asia,” Friedhoff said. “Now, it is time to double down on the latest developments in social commerce and livestreaming. With our massive focus on fully controlled livestream studios, we will be able to offer asset-light operations, and now, strengthened partnerships and investors, we are positioned to lead the next wave of online-first, offline-to-follow retail in our regional cluster.”
Katsufumi Uchida, head of Asia Pacific Division and managing executive officer of SMBC, added,
“As we celebrate 10 years in the Philippines, SMBC Group remains dedicated to our Asia multi-franchise strategy, leveraging our extensive branch network to strengthen our presence in the Philippines and across the region, striving for the continued economic growth in the Philippines. We are excited to contribute to the expansion of local commerce ecosystems and to connect financial services with the evolving digital marketplace through strategic partnerships such as with etaily.”
etaily’s growth has been supported by Ayala Corporation, Southeast Asia’s oldest conglomerate, as well as the Gokongwei Group, Landmark’s Cheng family, and the Po family behind Century Pacific Food Corporation. In 2023, etaily raised its last funding round, a Series A, which was led by an investment from Taiwan’s SKS Capital and Singapore’s Pavilion Capital, a private equity firm under Temasek Holdings. Other investors include the Magsaysay Family, Kaya Founders, Japan’s SBI (former Softbank) ICCP Fund and Foxmont Capital.