Thunes nets US$60M to accelerate growth in Africa, Asia, LatAm
Singapore-based Thunes, which operates a global B2B cross-border payments network, has secured US$60 million in Series B round of financing, led by Africa-focused VC firm Helios Investment Partners.
Global payments processing major Checkout.com, as well as existing investors GGV Capital and Future Shape (European deep-tech investor) also joined the round.
The proceeds from the round will fuel the continued development of Thunes’s global network and accelerate its expansion and growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A portion of the money will also be deployed to expand its team and product offering.
“This marks a significant milestone in our next phase of growth as we strive towards helping financial institutions and businesses around the world move money between each other in a faster, more economical and reliable way. Our goal is to make financial services affordable and accessible to everyone,” said Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes.
Launched in 2016, Thunes’s global network connects mobile wallet providers, banks, technology companies and money transfer operators, enabling cross-border payments to and from emerging economies “in a fast and secure manner”.
Today, the fintech firm connects different payment players in more than 100 countries.
The startup has regional offices in London, Shanghai, New York, Dubai, and Nairobi.
According to a press statement, Africa, Asia and Latin America represent Thunes’s largest growth opportunity, where fragmented and complex payment ecosystems often leave consumers and businesses struggling with slow, costly and unreliable ways of moving money.
“The projected size of emerging markets cross-border payments is around US$45 trillion. We will continue to invest and deliver additional value to the global payments ecosystem and capitalise on this explosive growth. We expect transaction volumes on our platform to double annually, through the expansion of our network,” added De Caluwe.
Tope Lawani, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Helios, said: “The African fintech space, and payments in particular, remains a key focus area for Helios and we continue to look for opportunities to back high-growth companies building key infrastructure for the financial ecosystem in Africa. Thunes is a great example of a firm leading this. The unique network built by the company enables its partners to process cheaper and faster cross-border payments of all types.”
In May last year, Thunes closed a US$10 million Series A financing round led by GGV Capital. Six months later, it secured regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to carry out payments services directly from the country.