Thai fintech Ascend Money hits US$1.5b valuation; achieves unicorn status
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SOUTH-EAST Asian fintech firm Ascend Money has raised US$150 million in its latest funding round, bringing its total valuation to US$1.5 billion. The move makes the company Thailand's first fintech unicorn, it said on Monday.
US-based investment firm Bow Wave Capital Management contributed to the latest round, alongside Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group and Alibaba's Ant Group.
Funds raised will be used to grow the user base of Ascend Money's e-wallet application TrueMoney Wallet. The funding will also be used to expand its digital financial services, including digital lending, digital investment and cross-border remittances across South-east Asia.
Ascend Money was founded in 2013. It has a presence across six South-east Asian countries, namely Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Its flagship service is TrueMoney, a digital payment and financial service platform which serves more than 50 million users through its e-wallet application and 88,000 TrueMoney agents.
The firm's total payment volume across the six markets reached US$14 billion in 2020. The highest contributor was Thailand, which grew 84 per cent between 2019 and 2020.
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Ascend Money also provides domestic and cross-border remittance services through its agent network, supporting local entrepreneurs with increased incomes, said Ascend Money co-president Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt.
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