Line Invests in The Parent to expand access to SE Asian digital advertising market

Line Southeast Asia has invested in The Parent, the owner of Asianparent, a community platform for parents in the region and Mama's Choice, a direct-to-consumer brand. Line made this investment to extend its reach in the APAC digital advertising market which is forecast to grow 13% annually from 2021 to 2031, reaching $2.8 trillion, according to tech researcher Forrester.

The investment will also help both companies to target the growing mother and baby-care in APAC. This category is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 8% from 2021 to 2026 to reach a market size of $48 billion in 2026, from $28 billion in 2019. The financial terms were not disclosed.

This Line investment is expected to help The Parent meet ambitious growth plans laid out by CEO Roshni Mahtani, CEO of The Parent. “We will continue the strategy and raise it to a new level with Line,” she said in a statement. “In 2021 we grew our revenue by 100% year on year, a trajectory we’ll pursue in 2022 while expanding into even more markets.”

The Parent’s other investors include JD.com (Jingdong) and SCB 10X (holding company of Siam Commercial Bank). For Line, The Parent’s successful business pivot was an added attraction. “We were impressed with The Parent’s remarkable growth and successful transition from a digital publishing business into a content-community-commerce tech company,” said EJ Lee, CEO of Line Plus, the corporation’s unit that supports its global business development initiatives.