Ascend Money has reached a $1.5 billion valuation after finalizing a $150 million round, making it the very first Fintech Unicorn in Thailand.
The proceeds will be channeled towards growing the firm’s client base (which includes its digital wallet app, TrueMoney Wallet) and to further expand its suite of digital financial services, which includes online lending, investment and remittance payments across Southeast Asia.
US-headquartered investment company Bow Wave Capital Management has made contributions to Ascend Money’s latest investment round, which was also joined by Charoen Pokphand Group and Ant Group.
Established in 2013, Ascend Money is a Fintech firm with a presence across six Southeast Asian nations, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The firm currently operates TrueMoney, a widely-adopted virtual payment and financial service platform, which serves over 50 million clients via its digital wallet app and 88,000 TrueMoney agents.
Monsinee Nakapanant, Co-President of Ascend Money, stated:
“As Southeast Asia’s homegrown fintech company, our mission is to enable everyone to access innovative financial services to better their lives. We have been blessed with overwhelming support from our shareholders and the new investor, with strong interest both in terms of capital investment and the quality of strategic partnership.”
Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, Co-President of Ascend Money, remarked:
“Ascend Money is driving cashless society and the adoption of financial services across the region through TrueMoney Wallet application. The company has also expanded its portfolio to cover a full range of digital financial services including digital lending, digital saving, and digital investment.”
Ascend Money has managed to expand its operations considerably during the past few years. Across the six Southeast Asian nations, its aggregate payment volume stood at $14 billion last year. The greatest payment volume came from Thailand with 84% growth from 2019 to 2020.