Sequoia-backed WeLab seeks funds at US$2b value: sources
WELAB, backed by investors including Sequoia Capital and billionaire Li Ka-shing, is weighing a new funding round that could value the Hong Kong-based fintech firm at about US$2 billion, said sources.
The company is looking to raise US$200 million to US$250 million in the new round to accelerate its growth plans, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. WeLab has sounded out existing and new investors for the fundraising, the people added.
WeLab, founded in 2013, operates consumer-credit platforms WeLend in Hong Kong and WeLab Digital in the Chinese mainland, said its website. It also runs WeLab Bank, a virtual lender in Hong Kong. The company has seen 1.5 times year-on-year growth in its loan balance in Hong Kong since the beginning of Covid-19, one of the people said.
Considerations are at an early stage, and details of the funding round could still change, the people said. A representative for WeLab declined to comment.
In September, the company completed the acquisition of Indonesian commercial bank, Bank Jasa Jakarta, alongside Astra International. It also has a joint venture with Astra to operate a licensed online lending app.
WeLab has more than 50 million individual users and over 700 enterprise customers, its website shows. Its investors include Khazanah Nasional and Allianz. TOM Group, which counts billionaire Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings as its largest shareholder, is also backing the venture.
The fintech firm in 2018 filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, but it was postponed amid market volatility. Simon Loong, an ex-Citigroup retail banker who founded WeLab, said in an interview last year that the company could restart the IPO process in 2022. BLOOMBERG
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