Fundiin, one of the first movers in Vietnam’s buy now pay later (BNPL) sector, has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Trihill Capital and ThinkZone Ventures, according to an announcement.
Other investors participating in the round included 1982 Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia, Zone Startups Ventures, and Do Thu Ngan, former Deputy CEO of Sacombank and former CFO and COO of JP Morgan Chase Vietnam.
This round follows the company’s $1.8-million oversubscribed seed round led by Japanese funds Genesia Ventures and JAFCO Asia in September last year.
The fresh capital will be used to expand at a faster pace, invest in the development of new products, as well as attract top talents before expanding to Indonesia in the upcoming Series B round.
Fundiin was founded by fintech veterans Nguyen Anh Cuong (CEO) and Vo Hoang Nam (CTO) to provide consumer-friendly payment options to Vietnam’s 97 million population and rising middle-class consumers.
Fundiin has cooperated with more than 300 partners, having more than 4,000 physical stores across Vietnam’s big cities, including top retailers such as Mobile World, Dien May Xanh, Unilever, Galaxy Play, and Reebok.
In July last year, Fundiin said it partnered with B2B e-commerce company Sapo, integrating the payment option at checkout for over 100,000 merchant clients on the online shopping platform.
The startup had earlier raised an undisclosed amount led by 1982 Ventures, Zone Startups Ventures, and some prominent Vietnamese angels.
Fundiin co-founder Nguyen Anh Cuong said while credit card penetration rates in developed countries range from 50% to more than 70%, in Vietnam, it is only 5%. This shows that Vietnam is a high-potential market for BNPL to develop, he added.
“Unlike the developed countries, Vietnam and the broader Southeast Asia region are largely underpenetrated by financial services. We believe that to properly underwrite the risk, besides technology capacity, a deep understanding of the local culture and nuances is also the key. And we see such understanding and underwriting capabilities in the Fundiin team,” said Valerianus Ian Sulaiman, VP of Investments at Trihill Capital.
Bui Thanh Do, Founding Member and Managing Director at ThinkZone Ventures, said “Vietnam’s retail market has been growing very fast, along with the market demand for new payment solutions that are faster, more convenient and less financially burdensome for consumers. Fundiin has solved this problem very well while ensuring the sustainable development of the BNPL model through its business indicators.”
Trihill Capital is an innovation-focused fund investing in early ventures in Southeast Asia with offices in Singapore and Indonesia. In Vietnam, the firm invested in SoBanHang, which enables retailers to build an online store, create promotions, manage inventory, and track in-store sales and information about loyal customers.
ThinkZone Ventures is a Vietnam-based venture capital firm focusing on tech startups from pre-seed to Series A. In February this year, ThinkZone Ventures raised $60 million for its second fund, making it the biggest homegrown VC vehicle backed predominantly by local conglomerates.