CHAI rakes in US$45M to develop a fully automated end-to-end payment infra for merchants

Singapore-based payment solutions company CHAI has secured US$45 million in a Series B+ investment round, co-led by existing investor SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) and US-based fintech VC firm Nyca Partners.

KT Investment, Conductive Ventures, Nordstar Capital, Samsung NEXT and B Capital also participated.

CHAI will use the new capital to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and develop a “fully automated end-to-end payment infrastructure” for digital merchants throughout Asia.

This tranche comes exactly a year after the startup bagged US$60 million in a Series B round led by Hanhwa Investment & Securities, with participation from SoftBank Ventures Asia, SK Networks, and Aarden Partners

Founded in 2019, CHAI provides a unified payment orchestration solution for local merchants through a single application programming interface (API).

Through CHAI Port, merchants can activate and offer over 30 payment options, such as credit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers and cross-border payments to their customers in under an hour. They can also optimise the checkout experience for improved conversion rates and obtain a consolidated real-time analysis of their entire payment flow from multiple payment methods.

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Currently, CHAI claims to process more than US$6 billion on behalf of over 2,200 merchants.

The firm recently launched CHAI Port in Vietnam and Thailand — both highly fragmented payment markets — and has begun supporting local brands such as Saigon Coop (leading grocer) and SoBanHang (e-commerce enabler for SMEs).

Additionally, CHAI also operates an e-wallet in South Korea that connects to a gamified rewards platform for over 3 million users to unlock instant cashback at famous brands.

“Emerging markets in Southeast Asia represent some of the fastest growth opportunities in digital payments. With the COVID-19 pandemic making accepting digital payments a necessity, we want to empower both global and local merchants to rapidly expand into new markets and reach billions of global consumers, respectively,” said Daniel Shin, CEO of CHAI.

The rise of the digital economy and the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated digital payment adoption among both consumers and merchants. Real-time payment transactions soared by 41 per cent worldwide in 2020, and within Southeast Asia, the gross merchandise value of online transactions is expected to hit US$1 trillion by 2030.

However, the payment landscape in the region remains highly fragmented, which poses a barrier to widespread adoption due to integration and management complexities – especially among small and medium-sized enterprises.

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