Visa backs $72m Series C for Singapore's Thunes

It deepens a partnership established last year that will see the US payments giant use Thunes technology to help clients such as financial institutions, governments, neobanks and money transfer operators send cash to digital wallets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Visa is investing alongside Singapore’s EDBI and US-based Endeavor Catalyst in an extension of an apparently ongoing round that featured Bessemer Venture Partners, Marshall Wace, and Hong Kong-based 01Fintech last month.

It brings total funding since the company’s inception in 2016 to more than USD 200m, according to AVCJ Research. Earlier backers include Helios Investment Partners, GGV Capital, Insight Partners, Future Shape, and UK payments operator Checkout.com.

“Digital wallets play a key role in providing underserved communities with greater economic empowerment and financial inclusion by penetrating previously unreached regions,” Ruben Salazar Genovez, global head of Visa’s money transfer unit Visa Direct, said in a statement.

Thunes provides a B2B payment infrastructure platform that helps gig economy players such as Uber, Deliveroo, and Grab transact with global fintech operators the likes of PayPal, Remitly, Finastra, and Revolut.

The company claims that its consumers can send payments – and get paid– anywhere in the world. It supports 80 currencies, enables payments to 132 countries and helps to accept 300 payment methods. This compares to 60 currencies and 100 countries in 2021.

There are regional offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dubai, London, Paris, Barcelona, Miami and Nairobi. Last year, the company acquired a controlling stake in Singapore-based anti-money laundering and compliance platform company Tookitaki.

“The international payment network does work – the money moves, it’s secure, and it’s safe. But it’s expensive and slow, and there is little visibility. You never know if your money has arrived, which is weird because that’s very easy to do,” Thunes CEO Paul De Caluwe told AVCJ following the Series B.

“We tell you exactly up front how much it costs, exactly when it’s going to arrive – usually instantly or in a day – and we confirm the money has arrived. Those are three problems that don’t bother you today because you don’t know that you have the problem.”

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Financials
• Technology
• Expansion
• Singapore
• EDBI
• Bessemer Venture Partners
• Financial Services
• Fintech