KPay secures US$55m in Series A funding

Fintech company KPay Group has raised US$55 million in its first institutional funding round. The funding was led by Apis Growth Markets Fund III and Apis Global Growth Fund III, with Apis Partners LLP managing the portfolio.

Apis Partners, a UK-based asset manager, oversees US$2.3 billion in total assets. KPay intends to utilise these funds for expansion across Emerging Asia. 

Despite a downturn in fintech funding in the Asia Pacific region, reaching a six-year low in the first half of 2024, KPay managed to generate significant interest from investors. This funding marks their first venture capital raise aimed at supporting the company's growth, according to a statement seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

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The investment will be used to expand operations in key Asian markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. KPay's strategy includes fostering organic growth and pursuing strategic mergers and acquisitions, particularly focusing on supporting small and medium enterprises in Asia.

For more than three years, KPay has operated in markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, achieving a 166% compound annual growth rate in revenue. The company has onboarded over 45,000 merchants and established partnerships with more than 150 SaaS providers and financial institutions, planning to double these collaborations.

“I am incredibly proud of this financial milestone our team has achieved. We are excited to use this funding to not only expand our existing markets’ SME merchant base, but also broaden our reach into new merchant industry categories, merchants of all sizes, and merchants operating in other underserved markets across Asia. This will bring us closer to our ambitious goal of supporting one million merchants over the next five years," said Davis Chan, co-founder and CEO of KPay. 

"Securing this funding gives us financial strength and flexibility to enhance our product innovation, go-to-market speed, customer experience, and operational excellence. All of this is with our merchants in mind, in making it even simpler, smarter, and more cost-effective for them when using KPay’s services. To do this, we need to continue to attract the best partners and global talent to join us, who share the same ambition to work alongside us to achieve the company's vision and mission," said Christopher Yu, president and CFO of KPay. 

Meanwhile, Matteo Stefanel, co-founder and managing partner at Apis Partners said "We are thrilled to lead this investment in KPay, a unique company demonstrating remarkable growth under the leadership of seasoned third-time founders and an exemplary management team. As one of the most active global fintech investors in growth-stage companies, Apis is eager to bring our domain expertise to support this exciting phase of KPay's journey."

"With this combination of both financial strength and execution excellence, we look forward to a long-term partnership with KPay, to support their regional expansion, and spearheading next-gen financial management solutions in Asia’s diverse payments and software sector," added Stefenal. 

In tandem, Udayan Goyal, co-founder and managing partner at Apis Partners stated "As a financial services-focused investor, we recognise the unique value KPay brings to the market through its commitment to empowering merchants with accessible, impactful financial tools."

"This investment aligns perfectly with our ESG and Impact mandate to foster sustainable and inclusive growth within the financial sector, promoting the democratisation of finance, embedded finance and the deepening of the digital economy. We look forward to supporting KPay as it scales, helping the company deliver meaningful financial solutions across Asia," added Goyal. 

This funding bodes well for KPay as the Southeast Asian region was previously alluded to as a 'fintech hothouse' following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a 2022 report by AppsFlyer, the mobile finance sector is seeing an acceleration in Southeast Asia. 

In Southeast Asia, consumers previously unfamiliar with financial and mobile technologies were compelled to buy goods and services online for the first time during the pandemic, drawing them into the world of mobile and digital payments. Non-organic installs swelled even faster than that of organic installs as a whole, the report stated.

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