By
Mayowa Adebajo
March 12th, 2024
Ant Financial will use this funding to expand its operations globally as well as towards developing emerging new technologies like blockchain.
Alibaba’s payment services affiliate Ant Financial has recently confirmed that it has managed to raise a whopping $14 billion in its Series C funding round. The company said that the funds raised will be used towards the global expansion plans along with developing new emerging technologies like the blockchain.
With this funding, the company aims at providing inclusive financial services to all the unbanked and underbanked consumers along with the small enterprises which are spread globally. In its official blog post, Ant Financial also mentioned that the capital will be used in developing and nurturing high-talent in the emerging markets and helping the communities to absorb the opportunities that are currently arising from the digital and technological transformation.
The company says that Series C Round witnessed a huge investor demand due to the company’s strong business profile clubbed with its technology-driven revenue growth and rapid global expansion. The Series C $14 billion financing round included an RMB tranche from local investors and a USD tranche from global investors.
The USD tranche comprised of some global institutional investors along with very big names like GIC, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Silver Lake, Temasek, General Atlantic, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., The Carlyle Group, Janchor Partners, Discovery Capital Management, Baillie Gifford, and Primavera Capital.
In a statement, Ant Financial CEO and executive chairman Eric Jing said:
“We are pleased to welcome these investors as partners, who share our vision and mission, to embark on our journey to further promote inclusive finance globally and bring equal opportunities to the world. We are proud of, and inspired by, the transformation we have affected in the lives of ordinary people and small businesses over the past 14 years.Now, with the help of our partners, we are going to accelerate our strategy.”
He further added that
“We are dedicated to building an open ecosystem with all our partners in China and beyond. We will continue to invest in technology and innovation in order to serve unmet financial needs of people everywhere and to enable them to benefit from the development of the digital economy.”
According to Bloomberg, the latest Series C round funding has pushed the valuations of Ant Financial above $100 billion. Over the past few years, the company has emerged as one of the dominant fintech players in China and serves over 500 million users with some of the popular services like AliPay, digital banking and investment services.
Earlier this week, in one of the latest reports from Reuters, Ant Financial is said to be shifting its focus from consumer financial services to technological development, wherein blockchain remains as the key focus. This is said to be due to the latest crackdown by the Chinese government.
Ant Financial is also said to be expanding its AliPay services overseas by collaborating with several local partners in countries like India, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.