KPay, a financial management platform for SMEs, raises $55M Series A

Sometimes, the easiest way to get a good starting point is to look beyond the current problem you’re solving for your customers.

That’s exactly what worked for the founders of KPay. Davis Chan and his co-founders previously helped small and medium-sized merchants grow their revenue and traffic in Asia, but eventually realized how ineffective managing payments and funds was for their customers.

Traditional financial solutions for retailers and SMBs don’t effectively serve the modern needs of business technology, integration, and data-informed decision-making, Chan said. “This fragmented approach leads to inefficiencies, high costs, and a lack of effective business intelligence.”

That insight led them to launch KPay, a one-stop financial management platform for merchants and SMBs. The company has seen great performance in the three years since its founding: It now serves 45,000 merchants in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, and has partnered with more than 150 SaaS providers, banks, and financial services firms. The company says it intends to expand its partnership to serve more businesses in Asia.

“We are investing in payment technology that provides greater flexibility, speed, and security for merchants to accept all major payments, support payments, bill payments, and domestic and global remittances as a unified financial management platform,” Chan told TechCrunch.

Investors seem to have spotted the opportunity here: KPay recently raised $55 million in a Series A round led by London-based investment firm Apis Partners.

The new capital from Series A will be invested in product development, as well as improving its speed to market, improving customer experience through organic growth, and expanding into new Asian markets as well as supporting inorganic growth strategies such as strategic mergers and acquisitions. , Christopher Yu, CFO of KPay, told TechCrunch. In addition, the startup is exploring how AI will improve the merchant experience, increase operational efficiency, and increase revenue.

Yu did not provide specific details about KPay’s revenue and profits but said revenue has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 166% since its inception.

“Looking ahead, our goal is to empower 1 million merchants within the next five years, to create an inclusive digital economy where neighboring businesses have the same opportunities as big brands,” Chan said.

The company has approximately 440 employees across its bases in Hong Kong and Singapore.