Nium to use latest funds to develop product, payment infrastructure offering, and acquisitions in Europe, India, U.K. and U.S.
Singapore-based fintech startup Nium announced the close of its Series C3 funding round in a company statement on April 6. This was Nium’s third tranche of Series C funding, raised primarily to welcome onboard new investors Visa and BRI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of BRI, a prominent Indonesian bank.
Existing investors Vertex Growth, Vertex Ventures, and GSR Ventures also participated in this financing round. Nium did not disclose the funding amount for this round.
Nium has raised over US$59 million till date, not including this round, according to its website. The startup had raised $21 million in its Series C1 funding round in 2018 and another $20 million in its C2 funding round in 2019.
The latest funds will be used to further develop Nium’s diversified payment infrastructure offering, which includes outreach to consumers, SMEs, large enterprises, as well as banks and financial institutions, according to the statement.
A large portion of the newly raised funds will be directed towards product development and tuck-in acquisitions (generally used to acquire resources, technologies, or skills that could benefit the acquirer), which will focus on vertical expertise in markets like Europe, India, the U.K., and the U.S.
“We are interested in tech infrastructure players with capabilities in issuance, local payment rails etc., which complement our own and can help us ship faster in markets we are bullish on,” said Nium Co-founder and CEO Prajit Nanu.
Founded in 2014 as InstaReM, a consumer remittance company, it evolved into global fintech platform Nium in 2019. The startup claims to serves over 1 million retail users globally, and process billions of dollars a year for banks, payments institutions, ecommerce players.
Some of Nium’s other investors include Fullerton Financial Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s sovereign investment firm Temasek, Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital, SBI Ven Capital, FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company), the international development bank of Netherlands, Beacon VC, MDI Ventures, and Atinum Investment.
The funding follows Nium’s announcement of a partnership with Geoswift to power cross border remittance into China, which will allow overseas users to credit money to receivers’ UnionPay card accounts in China in real-time.
Nium recently launched its service in Japan and Indonesia, and a cash payout option in the Philippines that allows Philippines users of InstaReM to pick up cash at approved outlets. Nium currently operates its Send, Spend and Receive business in over 90 countries, 65 in real-time, and in 63 currencies, according to the statement.
Nium processed nearly $2 billion in volume in Q1 of 2020, a company spokesperson told Jumpstart.
“I am thrilled to announce that we have closed another round of funding and added two more prestigious investors to our cap table. Visa and BRI Ventures’ participation is a vote of confidence for our business model and its resilience despite the climate,” said Nanu.
A public listing has always been on the horizon for Nium, but with the market slowing down, the company is looking at a 2023 listing, the spokesperson added.
“Nium and Visa’s collaboration began in early 2019 when Nium joined the Visa Fintech Fast Track program in Asia Pacific. We’ve worked together on new commerce experiences like instant remittances for consumers and businesses in Southeast Asia,” said Chris Clark, Regional President, Asia Pacific, Visa.
“We are excited to extend our partnership with Nium by investing in their business. Working with fintechs like Nium is a key part of Visa’s strategy to enable payments for anyone, anywhere, on any network,” he added.
CEO of BRI Ventures Nicko Widjaja said, “We have been working closely with Nium since their InstaReM days when they were processing consumer remittance, and are excited to witness their growth as they expand their service offerings to include financial institutions and corporates.”
Header Image Courtesy of Nium
