Trade management platform Tazapay raises US$1.8m in seed round; services go regional

SINGAPORE-headquartered cloud-based trade management platform Tazapay has raised nearly US$1.8 million in a latest seed round.

Existing investors Sequoia India's Surge and Saison Capital, together with new partners RTP Global and January Capital, participated in this round. Tazapay last raised US$3.2 million in December 2020. The fresh funds will go towards amping up customer acquisition resources and scaling technology and growth teams.

Additionally, the startup will see its whole suite of services go fully operational in Singapore, Malaysia, India and Thailand. Customers in these markets will be able to trade among one another now using these services, the firm told The Business Times. These services are functional as of Tuesday.

Tazapay streamlines cross-border trade by providing digital business verification and escrow services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The startup provides SMEs with background checks on potential business partners, and a digital escrow. It also holds funds securely until both trade parties fulfill their obligations for a transaction.

Tazapay has also announced new additions to its senior roles, such as Sri Lakshmi Kalapu as head of product and Kanupriya Sharda as head of growth. Ms Kalapu was previously at fintech firm Nium and Ms Sharda was formerly from Stripe, a global payments platform.

Said Rahul Shinghal, chief executive officer of Tazapay: "The markets in which we initially operate are significant trading corridors within the Asia-Pacific, and with the support of our growing team and investment partners, we look forward to expanding our global footprint and offering more services in the future."

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Tazapay also announced it will partner London-based Rapyd, a global fintech-as-a-service provider. Rapyd will ensure that sellers receive their full fees upon completion of a transaction.

Since Tazapay's founding in 2020, it has completed more than 500 background checks for its customers.