Fintech investment continues to grow

Financial technology (fintech) companies such as MFast, VNPay, Toss, and Tiki have recently announced successful fundraising in the millions of dollars as well as plans to expand in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

MFast, an app providing access to financial and insurance packages from reputable organizations all around Vietnam, received $1.5 million from Do Ventures and Japan’s JAFCO Asia Venture Fund in a Pre-Series A funding round.

Viva Republica, which owns the Toss app with more than 40 financial services, has announced it raised $410 million in a post-funding valuation of $7.4 billion. Ten years since being founded, Toss has become the largest fintech company in South Korea and also one of the fastest-growing startups in Vietnam.

Part of VNPAY, VNLIFE had a successful Series B round of $250 million led by investors including General Atlantic and Dragoneer along with the participation of PayPal Ventures and EDBI. VNLIFE offers an ecosystem that provides more than 30 services from and to many member companies in Vietnam as well as companies in Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

Online shopping app Tiki, meanwhile, received investment of $20 million from Taiwan Mobile after transforming into a Singaporean company, with the capital to be used to promote mobile money payments. Deal Street Asia said Tiki also received $74 million from other investors in a Series E round. AppWorks, CE Fintech Capital, and Nextrans also invested $5 million, $5 million, and $1.5 million, respectively, in Tiki.

According to Statista’s Digital Market Outlook report, Vietnam has the third highest percentage of its population using mobile payment methods in the world, at 29.1 per cent, in physical stores and restaurants as well as online and e-commerce stores. One of the main reasons for this is the pandemic, which has suspended traditional shopping habits and accelerated online shopping. According to the “Vietnam Digital Advertising Market 2021” report from Adsota and SOL Premier, the number of new users on e-commerce platforms in Vietnam has grown by more than 41 per cent; the highest in Southeast Asia. Up to 91 per cent will continue using these e-commerce platforms even after the world has passed the pandemic, which reveals the potential not only for mobile money service providers but also fintechs in Vietnam.