Ant Financial leads $200m round for China’s Qufenqi
Ant Financial Service Group, Alibaba Group's online financial services affiliate, has led a $200 million round of funding for Qufenqi, a Chinese electronics retailer that allows buyers to pay in installments.
Existing investors Beijing Kunlun Tech, Source Code Capital and BlueRun Ventures also participated. The round claims to be the largest for any Chinese internet finance start-up, according to a statement posted on its mobile social-networking app WeChat. Qufenqi will expand its online payments and credit appraisal businesses through collaboration with Ant Financial's Alipay and Sesame Credit.
Launched in March last year, Beijing-based Qufenqi targets college students, allowing them to pay for online purchases in installments.
In April, the start-up raised approximately $100 million led by Shenzhen-listed games developer Kunlun Tech, valuing the company at $250 million. Qufenqi secured a Series B round of funding from Source Code, Golden Summit and BlueRun in August last year, which came four months after the company raised a Series A round from BlueRun.
Qufenqi's main rival is Fenqile.com, which received funding from Chinese online retailer JD.com. Last December, the start-up scored a $100 million Series B round led by DST Advisors. Other VC investors in the firm include Matrix Partners, China Renaissance K2 Ventures and Bertelsmann Asia Investment (BAI).
Ant Financial, which is not part of the parent company's US-listed business, is widely expected to pursue an IPO next year. Earlier in June, the National Council for Social Security Fund (NSSF) participated in a funding round for Ant Financial that was said to value the business at more than $40 million.
The financial affiliate is forging ahead in financial services innovation with a view to disrupting the traditional bank-led system that has long underserved small businesses. Besides Alipay and Sesame Credit, the company has a loan platform Ant Check Later and an online bank MyBank. Last month, it launched a RMB1 billion ($161 million) venture capital fund to support third-party mobile app developers, shortly after the establishment of the RMB1 billion fund to back internet and finance start-ups.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.