With $15M funding, this Singapore-based fintech company plans to leverage inward remittance market of India
The World Bank estimates the 2015 international money transfer market at US$685 billion. Domestic money transfers are estimated to be of similar scale. Global remittance flows are expected to accelerate 4.1 percent in 2016, compared to the 0.9% CAGR in FY2013-14. Serving in this market, Singapore-headquartered fastacash is a global platform enabling value transfers across social. The company was created out of the desire to eliminate consumer pain points associated with payments and money transfers, be it international or domestic. fastacash has recently raised US$15 million in Series B funding led by Rising Dragon Singapore with participation from Life.SREDA, UVM 2 Venture Investments LP, and existing investors. With the fresh funding, fastacash is looking to further its global reach to UK, Europe and build its foothold in India.
What is fastacash?
Incorporated in Singapore in 2012, fastacash provides a global platform which allows users to transfer value (money, airtime, other tokens of value, etc.) along with digital content (photos, videos, audio, messages) through social networks and messaging platforms, enabling secure and cost-effective transactions domestically and internationally. As a technology enabler, fastacash partners with companies and brands in the payments, remittance, consumer products, and social industries to bring its technology to end-users. Together with its partners, the firm addresses the ever-increasing global population of mobile users that have limited access to financial services. fastacash works with banks, mobile operators, remittance companies, payment service providers, mobile wallets and other financial institutions to enable value transfers, be it peer-to-peer or person-to-merchant, by leveraging social network channels and messaging platforms.
The company has services in India, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore and Vietnam. The company has acquired over one million end-users and continues to demonstrate strong growth.
USD23.5M funding journey
Earlier, fastacash raised US$1.5million seed funding in 2012 led by Hong Kong’s Funding the Future (FTF Ltd). Next year, it raised US$3 million in Series A funding from Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, Spring SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of SPRING Singapore, and from Hong Kong-based Funding the Future (FTF Ltd). And in 2014, the company went on to raise an additional US$4 million in an extended Series A round, led by Jagdish Chanrai, a Principal of the Kewalram Chanrai Group, and Golden Oriole Investments.
The current round of funding($10M) takes total funding for fastacash to US$23.5 million. fastacash will continue to lead with innovation in social payments and expand its global reach, through partnerships, by tapping into the world’s largest send markets, including USA, UK, Europe, and the Middle East, to serve the migrant populations who are active on social channels. It will also build its foothold in the world’s largest inward remittance and domestic markets, such as India and other Southeast Asian markets.
According to Vladislav Solodkiy, Managing Partner at Life.SREDA believes that social and messaging channels are starting to enable money transfers. At the same time banks and financial institutions are also looking to evolve their payment services to meet the changing needs of consumers. He believes that with its integrated innovation and open API, fastacash's technology can be rapidly deployed by banks, payment systems, telecom operators, remittance systems, social channels and retailers into their solutions.
fastacash products
fastacash works with financial institutions, building social payment capabilities within their services or mobile applications. In May 2015, Axis Bank launched Ping Pay socially linked by fastacash. the company claims that it's India's first bank-led multi social payment app, allowing users to send or ask for money and mobile recharge across Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, SMS or e-mail. Earlier this year, it partnered with Visa Europe, to bring social transfer capabilities to Visa Europe’s partner banks. In November 2014, it partnered with DBS Bank, the largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia, to integrate its capabilities within the DBS PayLah! mobile application. Other collaborations include P2P money and recharge transfer services with DOKU, MOBI.Dengi, Oxigen Wallet and Techcombank.