China-based e-commerce platform Akulaku has secured $70m in a series C round led by financial data sowftare provider FinUp Financial Technology.
Venture capital firms Sequoia India, BlueSky Venture Capital and Qiming Venture Capital also took part in the round.
Founded in 2014, Akulaku initially focused on offering a virtual credit card in markets across Southeast Asia, before launching an e-commerce platform that allows consumers to purchase products in instalments.
The company claims to have 13 million registered users who are responsible for nearly $100m in monthly transactions.
Akulaku will use the capital to develop additional financial products, such as loans for small and medium-sized merchants and online payment tools for convenience stores. It will also strengthen its market position in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Qiming Venture Capital previously led a $30m series B round in July 2017 that reportedly featured Legend Capital, the venture capital firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as Shunwei Capital, IDG Capital, Arbor Ventures, DCM, Arbor Venture Fund, and Wecapital.
Eight Roads Ventures, an investment vehicle of financial services group Fidelity, had backed a $15m funding round for Akulaku in February 2017 that also included Arbor Ventures and Micro Cloud Ventures, according to Kr Asia.
DCM Ventures had previously led Akulaku’s $5m series A round in 2016, investing together with China Growth Capital and IDG Capital.
– This article was updated on January 11 2019. It previously stated Akulaku had raised $100m in funding in August 2017, but this was in fact the total of the company’s series B and C rounds. We apologise for the confusion.
