Bessemer Venture Partners, a U.S.-based company, provided the Series C capital.
DealStreetAsia is a Singapore-based financial news website that focuses on corporate investment, private equity, and venture capital activities throughout Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia, India, and Greater China. Majority ownership of the business is held by Nikkei.
Philippines’ CEBU According to regulatory documents, the Singapore-based fintech startup Thunes, which runs a global business-to-business, cross-border payments network, has raised $25 million more in its Series C fundraising round.
According to documents filed with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, the new money came from the American venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. According to the documents, it can raise up to $5 million more in the round.
DealStreetAsia announced in March that one of the biggest hedge fund managers in the world, Marshall Wace, has invested $30 million in the firm as Series C capital.
Thunes, which is governed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K., had raised more than $130 million in total prior to the Series C financing. Thunes confirmed the round.
“With the support of our current investors, strengthened by Marshall Wace, Bessemer, and 01Fintech, we will be able to further scale our capabilities, launch new solutions, open new segments, and make the network even more robust, resilient, and efficient,” said Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes, in a statement on Tuesday. “We will increase our presence in key strategic markets, such as China, Latin America, and the Middle East, to enable better payment experiences for companies and individuals globally.”
In addition, Thunes disclosed that since its $60 million Series B financing, the network reach of its mobile wallet has increased fourfold, from 720 million accounts to 3 billion accounts. It currently has 4 billion bank accounts worldwide and has handled about $50 billion in transactions since launch. Well-known companies including Visa, PayPal, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Revolut, Finastra, Grab, M-Pesa, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Western Union, and Remitly are just a few of its clients.
Since its Series B financing, Thunes has also improved its offering through inorganic growth, acquiring the European payment methods platform Limonetik and the AI-driven anti-money laundering and compliance software company Tookitaki to lower the cost of international money transfers.
In order to make payments quick and simple for WeChat users, Thunes recently announced a strategic relationship with Tencent Financial Technology, the fintech division of Tencent.
The Autorite de Controle Prudentiel et de Resolution (ACPR) in France has granted Thunes a new payments institution license, allowing the business to transfer payments internationally on behalf of its French or EU clients and partners.
In May, Thunes also disclosed a collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s D360 Bank, a digital bank, to enable its users to send money across borders and make business-to-business payments more quickly.
According to Caluwe, “We want to challenge the current state of global payments.” “Our goal is to make cross-border money transfer accessible to everyone, whether they are enterprises, self-employed people, or individuals. Digital wallets have changed financial empowerment in today’s mobile-first era and made the conventional banking system obsolete. Nearly half of the world’s population—3 billion wallet users—have already joined Thunes’ network.
The platform of the startup links payment participants from more than 100 nations. In an expansion round headed by investment firm Insight Partners in 2021, it raised $60 million.
A $60 million Series B funding led by Helios Investment Partners, a company with an emphasis on Africa, was raised by Thunes in September 2020. According to Caluwe, “We want to challenge the current state of global payments.” “Our goal is to make cross-border money transfer accessible to everyone, whether they are enterprises, self-employed people, or individuals. Digital wallets have changed financial empowerment in today’s mobile-first era and made the conventional banking system obsolete. Nearly half of the world’s population—3 billion wallet users—have already joined Thunes’ network.
The platform of the startup links payment participants from more than 100 nations. In an expansion round headed by investment firm Insight Partners in 2021, it raised $60 million.
A $60 million Series B funding led by Helios Investment Partners, a company with an emphasis on Africa, was raised by Thunes in September 2020.
Thunes’ most recent financing comes at a time when the World Bank predicts that remittances to low- and middle-income nations will increase by 5% annually to $626 billion in 2022.
A significant amount of money entered and left China. For reference, India, Mexico, China, the Philippines, and Egypt were the top five recipient nations for remittances in 2021.
