(L-R) Fazz Deputy CEO Tianwei Liu and Group CEO Hendra Kwik
Fazz, a digital financial services group dual-headquartered in Singapore and Indonesia, has announced a US$100 million Series C funding round.
The round comprises US$75 million equity and a US$25 million debt facility.
The equity investors are Tiger Global, DST Investment, B Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners, and ACE & Company. llham Ltd (which is associated with EDBI), InterVest, Michael Seibel (Managing Director of Y Combinator), and Hans Tung (Managing Partner of GGV Capital) also participated.
The debt facility came from Lendable.
Fazz will use the funds to grow the business and expand its teams in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan from 800 to 1,400.
Also Read: Payfazz invests US$30M into Xfers; join hands to form Fazz Financial Group
Fazz (earlier known as Fazz Financial Group and founded in 2016) was launched following a merger between PayFazz and Xfers, two Y Combinator alumni based in Southeast Asia. Its mission is to enable financial access for every business in Southeast Asia, where many MSMEs and the population are still underserved.
The firm offers Fazz Agen, an agent-based financial application serving micro and small businesses in Indonesia. Fazz Business is a business account to help startups, MSMEs, and large corporations build, run, and grow their businesses across Southeast Asia by providing the ability to pay and receive payments, grow capital, and get funding.
Its Modal Rakyat is a P2P lending and borrowing service for MSMEs, while StraitsX offers payment infrastructure for digital assets.
Fazz claims it saw US$10 billion in annualised transaction volumes over the past year. It is looking to double its transaction volumes in the next 12 months.
“Many businesses in Southeast Asia are still underserved, and some have been heavily affected by the pandemic. Fazz is stepping in to help them recover and grow back stronger. We invest a lot in the tech side of our business to ensure that any business, from small family shops to big enterprises, can access financial tools to build their business.
More importantly, we want to provide the same benefits that big companies have to small businesses and warung owners. This round of funding will enable us to build this technology edge for our users,” said CEO Hendra Kwik.
Also Read: How blockchain-powered fintech services can improve financial inclusion
Lack of access to equitable technology tools and bank financing are key challenges for MSMEs in Southeast Asia, with the funding gap currently reaching US$300 billion.
The changing business environment during the pandemic has placed MSMEs at an even bigger disadvantage due to the lack of access to funding, technology and network.
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