Allianz X, a corporate venture capital investment vehicle for insurance group Allianz, provided $75m for China-based digital financial services provider WeLab yesterday, representing the first close of its series C1 round.
WeLab markets lending products and other financial services through an online platform and also operates an Asia-focused digital banking platform called WeLab Bank. It provides its services to almost 50 million retail customers and 600 business clients.
The financing will enable WeLab to continue its expansion plans and finance the further development of its technology platform. It plans to collaborate with Allianz on the development of new digital products for the wealth management space.
WeLab received $156m in series C round funding from Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, an investment vehicle launched by e-commerce firm Alibaba and financial services firm China Construction Bank (CCB), as well as unnamed new and existing investors, in December 2019.
The company had previously raised $220m of debt and series B equity financing from Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, CCB, financial services firm Credit Suisse and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation two years earlier.
WeLab secured $160m in a 2016 series B round led by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional that also featured financial services firm ING Bank and Chinese state-owned investment firm Guangdong Technology Financial Group.
Media company Tom Group had joined Sequoia Capital, DST Global and Iconiq Capital in a $20m series A round for the company that closed in 2015.
Image courtesy of WeLab.