SoftBank joins $60m Series B for Korean payments player
SoftBank Ventures Asia has joined a $60 million Series B round for Korean payments technology start-up Chai.
Hanwah Investment & Securities led the round, which also included SK Networks, Aarden Partners, and Hashed, a US and Korea-based accelerator and investor focused on blockchain. It brings total funding to date to $75 million.
Chai claims to offer the easiest and most efficient channel for online businesses to accept payments. Its B2B service I’mport aims to provide a single, unified interface that enables e-commerce businesses to choose from a set of more than 20 payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets, and wire transfers. More than 2,200 merchants use the service, including Nike Korea and Philip Morris Korea.
The start-up also operates an e-wallet and debit card business, which has gained 2.5 million users since launching in June last year. Most recently, it has established a gamified rewards platform whereby users earn "bolts" to receive instant cashback at popular brands. Game-like features and social elements are intended to help digitize the plastic card experience and drive traffic to the platform while retaining the convenience of a plastic card.
“I’mport has reduced what once took e-commerce businesses weeks to complete into a simple copy-and-paste task, radically reducing costs,” SeungYoung Oh, a director at Hanwha, said in a statement. “It’s a first-of-its-kind business model in Korea, and I have no doubt that Chai will continue to grow this service into an essential infrastructure of the global fintech landscape.”
Korea’s fintech sector has experienced momentum based on a softening regulatory environment, increased interest from conglomerates, and an internet-savvy consumer market. The trend coincides with expectations among some investors that rising regional competition, especially from China, will result in domestic growth opportunity shifting from consumer-facing brands to B2B business models.
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