Jenina Ibañez · · 2 min readSG-based Thunes takes majority stake in local regtech firm in $20m deal
Thunes, a cross-border payments company based in Singapore, has acquired a majority stake in local regtech startup Tookitaki for over US$20 million.
Tookitaki founder and CEO Abhishek Chatterjee / Photo credit: MCI
The partnership will link Thunes’ customers to Tookitaki’s anti-money laundering software, Tookitaki founder and CEO Abhishek Chatterjee told Tech in Asia.
In turn, Tookitaki aims to onboard banking and financial tech customers at a faster pace by tapping Thunes’ clients globally, says Chatterjee.
Mostly active in Singapore and parts of the US, Tookitaki will expand its presence to Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines through Thunes’ cross-border payments ecosystem. It will also expand further into the Middle East and Europe.
The regtech startup expects its revenue to triple year on year in 2022 because of this expansion, supporting its growth with local hires in more Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
“Thunes has offices around the world, which means we will have people on the ground in regions where we were not present,” said Chatterjee, noting that Tookitaki will reach these markets without setting up its own offices.
In January, Thunes said it plans to link with more digital payment companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau to speed up transactions in those markets. The cross-border payments firm also raised US$60 million last year in a series B round led by Insight Partners.
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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