Momo, a Vietnamese fintech startup that offers a mobile wallet with various payments applications, has raised US$100 million in its Series C funding round from global private equity Warburg Pincus, according to Vietnamese media.
Momo did not actually reveal any figures but Crunchbase said the Vietnamese firm raised US$100 million, which would make it one of the largest single funding rounds ever raised by a startup from Vietnam.
Momo said it will further expand its footprint and develop millions of payments points throughout Vietnam. Currently, the company claims to serve nearly 10 million users on its e-wallet platform.
Momo helps customers make nationwide cash transfers, pay more than 100 types of bills, recharge mobile phone accounts, settle personal loans, and purchase services such as software licenses and online game vouchers, airline and movie tickets.
The latest funding round, the third for the company since its inception in 2013, brings Momo’s total funding to US$133.8 million. It first raised US$5.8 million from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners in January 2013, followed by a US$28-million Series B round in March 2016, led by Standard Chartered Bank.
Momo CEO Pham Thanh Duc was quoted as saying that the investment from Warburg Pincus will further allow the company to build out the country’s digital payments infrastructure, utilise technology to bolster financial inclusion, and provide ordinary Vietnamese access to digital financial services. He added that Momo posted its largest ever transaction volume and number of active users in 2018.
The company will also continue to invest in technology – including AI, security, and Big Data capabilities – to further develop innovative financial services solutions. Last year, Momo was named in the Fintech100 report, a list of the year’s best fintech innovators from around the world compiled by H2 Ventures and KPMG.
Online payment in Vietnam dates back a decade but has great scope for development, Ngo Trung Linh, chief executive of VietUnion, which runs Payoo, the leading Vietnamese platform, told the Nikkei Asian Review in 2017.