Chinese fintech and Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial Service Group announced on Friday it secured approximately $14 billion through its Series C Equity Funding round, which includes an RMB tranche raised by the company from domestic investors and a USD tranche raised by Ant international Co., Limited, a wholly owned offshore subsidiary of Ant Financial, from international investors.
According to Ant Financial, participants in the RMB tranche of the Series C equity financing are mainly existing shareholders of the company, while participants in the USD tranche are global institutional investors including GIC, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Silver Lake, Temasek, General Atlantic, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., The Carlyle Group, Janchor Partners, Discovery Capital Management, Baillie Gifford, and Primavera Capital. Ant Financial claimed its strong business profile, technology-driven revenue growth, and rapid global expansion led to strong investor demand for the Series C equity financing. While sharing details about the latest funding round, Eric Jing, Executive Chairman and CEO of Ant Financial, stated:
“We are pleased to welcome these investors as partners, who share our vision and mission, to embark on our journey to further promote inclusive finance globally and bring equal opportunities to the world. We are proud of, and inspired by, the transformation we have affected in the lives of ordinary people and small businesses over the past 14 years. Now, with the help of our partners, we are going to accelerate our strategy. We are dedicated to building an open ecosystem with all our partners in China and beyond. We will continue to invest in technology and innovation in order to serve unmet financial needs of people everywhere and to enable them to benefit from the development of the digital economy.”
Ant Financial also reported that since the launch of Alipay in 2004 and its own establishment in 2014, the company has built an integrated technology platform and an ecosystem of partners to bring more secure, transparent, cost-effective and inclusive financial services to individuals and SMEs globally. Ant Financial went on to add that it will continue to invest in developing its blockchain, AI, security, IoT, and computing capabilities to upgrade its global technology platform for the next generation.
Funds raised will be used to accelerate Alipay’s globalization plans and invest in developing technology to further enhance Ant Financial’s ability to deliver inclusive financial services to unbanked and underbanked consumers and small enterprises globally. In addition, the funds will also be used to cultivate high-tech talent in emerging markets to help communities take advantage of the opportunities arising from digital transformation.
