 |
Viva Republica CEO Lee Seung-gun (Viva Republica) |
Viva Republica, operator of mobile fintech platform Toss, said Friday that it has raised $173 million in new funding from multiple investors to drive its new initiative to open a comprehensive financial service application.
Investors participating in the fundraise include Aspex Management, Sequoia Capital China, Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund, Altos Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and Greyhound Capital.
Despite the pandemic-sparked market turmoil, the latest funding marks the single largest investment that the fintech startup has raised since it was founded in 2013. The accumulated amount of funds totaled $530 million.
Toss, the company’s signature money transfer service, currently has over 17 million registered users as of end-August and has processed transactions worth $10 billion since its launch in 2015.
“As our estimated corporate value stands at $2.6 billion, it is significant that we have successfully raised such massive amounts through funding despite contracted investment environment around the globe,” a Viva Republica official said.
With the investment, the fintech startup aims to consolidate various financial products by leveraging user engagement data from local financial institutions such as banks, securities and insurance companies.
Viva Republica has recently acquired a payment business unit of LGU+ and earlier obtained the license for digital bank and securities brokerage business, laying the groundwork to expand into a full-fledged fintech service provider.
Besides its business portfolio expansion, the company has also added more than 600 employees including those working at Toss’ subsidiaries. Toss plans to hire additional 500 employees by the year-end.
“We are building a financial super app fundamentally innovating across every facet of consumer finance. We believe that this fundraising has brought us a step closer to reaching our goal,” Viva Republica CEO Lee Seung-gun said.
“We will continue to dedicate our efforts until we revolutionize all financial activities within everyday lives through Toss.”
By Jie Ye-eun (
yeeun@heraldcorp.com)
