Fintech funding significantly picked up this year and is estimated to have reached US$15 billion in Q1’21, data from CB Insights show. In Asia, fintech investments are projected to surpass US$2.6 billion, the region’s highest quarterly total since Q1’20.
Driving this growth has been the surge in mega-rounds of US$100 million and over. In the first two months of 2021, the number of mega-rounds globally and the volume of funds raised in mega-rounds set a new record. In Asia Pacific (APAC), fast-growing startups including Grab, Airwallex, GCash and MoMo, all raised mega-rounds this year to fuel their growth.
To get a sense of which startups have gotten investors excited, we’ve compiled a list of what we’ve found to be the ten largest fintech funding rounds closed and/or announced since the beginning of the year.
Grab Financial Group (Singapore) – US$300 million+
Grab Financial Group (GFG), the fintech arm of Grab, raised more than US$300 million in its Series A funding round in January. The company said it will use the proceeds to acquire talent, and expand its offerings in Southeast Asia, focusing on affordable, convenient, and transparent financial solutions.
GFG offers payments and financial services across lending, insurance, and retail wealth management. Grab is also part of a consortium with Singtel that was awarded a full digital banking license in Singapore last year.
CRED (India) – US$215 million
CRED, a Bangalore-based startup that offers rewards for credit card payments, raised US$215 million in a Series D funding round in April. The fundraise gave the startup a post-money valuation of US$2.2 billion, up from its US$800 million valuation from the US$81 million Series C it closed in January 2021.
CRED operates an app that rewards customers for paying their credit card bills on time and gives them access to a range of services including credit, and a catalog of products from high-end brands.
Global Fintech Innovations (Mynt) (Philippines) – US$175 million
Global Fintech Innovations (better known as Mynt), the fintech arm of telco Globe Telecom and the operator of the Philippines’ GCash mobile wallet, raised US$175 million in January, pushing its valuation to close to US$1 billion. The company said it will use the proceeds to further spur the growth of financial inclusion and the digitalization of payments and financial services in the Philippines.
GCash is the biggest digital wallet in the Philippines, serving over 33 million users.
Fumi Technology (WeBull) (China) – US$150 million
Fumi Technology, the parent company of Webull, raised US$150 million in February and reached unicorn status. The Chinese-owned brokerage has benefited from the surge in trading by individual investors as stock prices soar to all-time highs, and successfully positioned itself as the go-to platform for disgruntled users of Robinhood.
Like Robinhood, Webull offers free stock trades but has tried differentiating itself with more sophisticated investment tools and more responsive customer service.
Paidy (Japan) – US$120 million
Paidy, a Japanese buy now pay later (BNPL) company, raised US$120 million in a Series D funding round in April which it said it will use to expand transactions with large merchants, develop new services, and strengthen its balance sheet.
Paidy launched its post-pay credit account for e-commerce in 2015, helping Japanese consumers make online without a credit card. The company now claims more than five million accounts.
BharatPe (India) – US$108 million
BharatPe, India’s largest offline acquirer of merchants, raised US$108 million in a Series D financing round in February that valued the startup at US$900 million, up from US$425 million last year. It said it will use the new fund in part to further expand its network.
BharatPe operates a service that helps offline merchants accept digital payments and secure working capital. It serves more than six million merchants, enables monthly transactions worth more than US$123 million, and has deployed over 50,000 point of sale (POS) machines.
M_Service(Momo) (Vietnam) – US$100 million+
M_Service, the operator of Vietnam’s payment app MoMo, raised a funding round of more than US$100 million in January, which it said it will use to upgrade its app with biometrics technology and for strategic acquisitions.
The company has also been working on creating a platform connecting financial institutions and asset management companies with users for investments and small loans.
MoMo began in 2010 as a SIM card-based application that allowed people to transfer money and buy mobile top-up and game scratch cards. It started a mobile e-wallet app in 2014 which later on expanded into a super app supporting an array of services ranging from insurance payments to digital marketing for merchants and charity donations.
Airwallex (Hong Kong) – US$100 million
Airwallex, a cross-border payment startup serving businesses, raised US$100 million in a Series D extension in March, increasing its valuation to US$2.6 billion. This latest tranche followed Airwallex’s initial Series D in April 2020, lifting it to a total of US$300 million.
Airwallex, which was founded in Melbourne in 2015 before moving its headquarters to Hong Kong in 2018, offers products for cross-border businesses like foreign currency accounts and multi-currency debit cards with Visa, international money transfers and a suite of APIs that allow companies to do things like accept and manage international payments and manage their foreign exchange risk.
Fenbeitong (China) – US$92.5 million
Corporate expense management startup Fenbeitong raised a US$92.5 million Series C round in March, which it said it will use to increase investments in talent recruitment and double its research and development (R&D) team.
Established in 2016, Fenbeitong helps corporate clients reimburse their employees for expenses through an online management platform, a mobile app, and other products.
Groww (India) – US$83 million
Bangalore-based wealthtech startup Groww raised US$83 million in its Series D funding round in April and reached unicorn status. The startup said it will use the proceeds to accelerate its growth and hire more talent.
Groww allows users to invest in mutual funds, gold, as well as stocks, including those listed at US exchanges. The app offers every fund that is currently available in India. Groww claims it has amassed more than 15 million registered users, two-thirds of whom are first-time investors.
