CompareEuropeGroup Raises $21 Million To Expand

CompareEuropeGroup (CEG), a price comparison website in Europe, announced Wednesday (Jan. 11) it raised $21 million in funding to expand the business.

According to a report by TechCrunch, the round of funding is a Series A investment and is notable because of the size and because of the investors, which included ACE & Company (which has backed Pinterest, TransferWise, Uber and SpaceX), Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group, Nova Founders Capital, SBI Holdings, Mark Pincus (who founded Zynga), Peter Thiel ( PayPal and Palantir founder) and others. Some of the investors have already invested in CompareAsiaGroup, its sister website, noted the report.

CompareEuropeGroup was founded in 2015 and uses machine learning and algorithms to find the best deals for services in real time. Users typically get dozens of suggestions from a variety of service providers. The site also provides prices on a sliding scale. Take car insurance, for one example. Users to the website will get prices for different coverage limits based on parameters set by the user.

Thomas Munk, who cofounded CompareEuropeGroup, told TechCrunch that he thinks CompareEuropeGroup stands out from the crowd in part because it is better. “I would argue that CEG is not simply a comparison platform,” he said in the report. “In fact, we help users get a tailored result based on their profile and needs, as well as help them actually buy the product and manage it over time. Hence, the difference is in the approach to the customer needs and the related data-driven technology that sits behind it. Also, we have a focused strategy of targeting markets with limited financial comparison services, thus making a big difference in these markets.”

While Munk wouldn’t say what the company is valued at or how it’s doing in terms of sales, he did say it is “experiencing significant growth in all its markets.” The new round of funding will be used to “launch new verticals in all the countries, continue to develop our proprietary technology and algorithms and invest in marketing to further raise awareness and reach more users,” Munk said in the report.