Premium Case Study 07 - GoBear

Singapore-based fintech startup GoBear began as Asia's first and only metasearch engine for financial products. From promoting financial health to being broke, here's why it failed.

Company Overview

GoBear is a Singapore-based Fintech that aims to help consumers choose the right banking and insurance products. It operates as a financial comparison site by profiling various financial institutions. It was founded in 2014 and has since shown great promise, ranking first on LinkedIn's Top 10 Singapore Startups in 2020.

• Description: Metasearch Engine, Comparison Site for Banking and Financial Products, Online Insurance Provider, Digital Lending Business

• Category: FinTech

• Country: Singapore

• Period: 2014 - 2021

• Size of the company: 165

• Number of funding rounds: 2

• Number of investors: 2

• Total amount raised: USD 97 million

GoBear expanded to more countries in Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. It has also raised nearly $100 million in funding by 2020.

Although GoBear started off on a good note and had a mission to improve the financial health of people in Asia, it shocked the world by abruptly announcing its closure just a year after the pandemic.

Was the pandemic the sole reason for GoBear's failure? Or was there something else?