Ready player ShopBack

ShopBack posts 30% revenue growth as it expands its play-to-earn feature, and we get the scoop on increasing tensions within MoneyHero.

Read from your browser Daily Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia's tech and startup buzz. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS ShopBack goes gaming as bottom line improves MoneyHero feels internal pressure Aspire's take on US expansion Hello Betamax, For most online purchases, Shopee's been my go-to recently. But back when Lazada was more generous with its incentives, I used to grind the games it offered to get solid discounts on small purchases, usually coffee beans. Since January last year, a similar grind's been available on cashback rewards firm ShopBack's platform. Through a feature called ShopBack Play, the company rewards users just for playing mobile games installed through the ShopBack app. The company knows shopping is a lower-frequency activity, and adding a play-to-earn feature can help turn opening the app into a habit. But gamification isn't the only lever ShopBack can pull as it enters its 2027 financial year. Huanmin Huang, the company's chief of staff and acting CFO, shares more with Tech in Asia for this edition's first top story, including its North American push and AI integrations. Over at fintech firm MoneyHero, Tech in Asia has learned that a number of the company's senior management were pushing for board chairman Kenneth Chan to step down in late March. It marks the latest escalation in tensions between the board and management team. Check out our second top story for the full details. Miguel Cordon, journalist TOP STORIES 1️⃣ From shopping to gaming: ShopBack sees over 30% growth in FY 2026 What stands out most from the company's latest financial statement, which covers its financial year ending March 2025, is its swing to a US$159.9 million profit before tax. That said, most of this profit came from a change in financial income, which doesn't necessarily reflect the daily grind of the business. Still, Huang says ShopBack has been adjusted EBITDA profitable for the last six consecutive quarters, the latest being Q4 of its FY 2026. The profitability milestone is timely, as reports suggest ShopBack is gunning for an IPO early next year. 2️⃣ MoneyHero management sought chairman's ouster before CEO pick MoneyHero's management pushed to oust Chan just over a week before the company appointed CFO Danny Leung as interim CEO to replace Rohith Murthy, whose tenure lasted just over two years. While MoneyHero's revenue is on the rise and profitability is on the horizon, a source told my colleague Melissa that the firm needs a streamlining of its operations and decision-making. The leadership transition follows an internal investigation late last year, which was prompted by two employee complaints lodged against Chan. SPOTLIGHT Aspire's US playbook Aspire, a Singapore-based finance platform for businesses, is looking to push for a 60% growth in total payment volume this year. The company's CEO and co-founder Andrea Baronchelli told Tech in Asia in February that Aspire is fueling its growth ambitions with its expansion efforts into the US, Australia, and Europe. In an interview with Fortune this week, Baronchelli said that the company's initial strategy for its US expansion will focus on helping existing clients break into the Western market. According to Baronchelli, Aspire's clients have said the likes of Ramp do not currently support companies outside the US directly, which creates a gap for Aspire to fill. Following that effort, Aspire looks to expand its audience and serve more US-based firms, taking on rivals like Ramp and Mercury in their own backyards. TRENDING NEWS 1️⃣ Grab launches AI Assistant, deepens AI push across Southeast Asia AI Assistant is built upon models from the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. It allows users to get recommendations for food and trips, among other topics, within the Grab app. 2️⃣ Chinese AI firm ModelBest becomes unicorn after raising over $146m The company, which develops on-device AI models, says its open-source MiniCPM model family has been downloaded over 24 million times. 3️⃣ Intel joins Tesla, SpaceX in Musk's AI chip project Intel will work with Elon Musk's Terafab project to manufacture specialized processors for SpaceX and Tesla, with a focus on robots, automobiles, and space-based AI data centers. 4️⃣ TikTok invests $1.1b in second Finland data center The facility will initially offer 50 megawatts of capacity, with the potential to more than double that as TikTok shifts European user data storage to local servers. 5️⃣ India tech job openings fall 8% in April on AI shift The drop continues a year-long slump driven by corporate cost-cutting and AI-driven efficiency gains. 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