Vietnam's MoMo secures $200m Series E
Mizuho Bank has led a $200 million Series E round for MoMo, a Vietnam-based mobile wallet provider, at a valuation of more than $2 billion.
Ward Ferry Management, Goodwater Capital, and Kora Management also took part. Goodwater led the company’s $100 million-plus Series D in early 2021 alongside Warburg Pincus, with Korea and Macquarie Capital in supporting roles. Warburg Pincus also led a $100 million Series C in 2019. Other investors include Affirma Capital and Goldman Sachs.
Momo has become Vietnam’s third unicorn, joining digital content platform VNG Corporation and financial technology player VNLife. The latter – which closed a $250 million Series B earlier this year – operates VNPay, Vietnam’s largest interoperable cashless payment network, and builds mobile apps for banks.
Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, MoMo has leveraged its status as Vietnam’s first and largest e-wallet operator to grow into a super app. The company now also offers saving and investment products, cash advances, a donation platform, and a range of entertainment services including movie ticket bookings and lottery ticket purchasing.
It has 31 million users, and the e-wallet is accepted at more than 140,000 points of sale. The new funding will go towards geographic expansion, with an emphasis on tier-two and tier-three cities and rural areas, developing new financial services products, and investments in start-ups that can strengthen the Momo ecosystem. MoMo Innovation Ventures was announced earlier this year.
The company has already seen rapid growth. In 2020, its user base doubled to 23 million, while transaction volume grew 3.5x to hit $14 billion. In 2016, when the Series B closed, MoMo had one million e-wallet customers, a network of 100 merchants, and an over-the-counter remittance service serving 1.5 million unbanked individuals.
“We are seeking to broaden our retail financial business footprint with particular focus on the ASEAN region, digital transformation, and financial inclusion,” said Daisuke Horiuchi, managing executive officer of Mizuho’s retail business unit, said in a statement.
“MoMo excels in all of these three aspects and we believe that they will continue improving the life of the Vietnamese people and merchants with their outstanding financial solutions and daily services.”
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