Deep Dive: Atome’s enigmatic parent company

After recently closing a US$400 million series D round from an investor consortium led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg Pincus, Singapore-headquartered Advance Intelligence Group joined the unicorn club.

Its most well-known service? Atome, one of the region’s most prevalent buy now, pay later (BNPL) platforms.

Photo credit: Atome

However, the group has a lot more under its belt, offering services ranging from digital lending and risk management to merchant software services that span 12 markets across Asia, Greater China, and Latin America.

In this episode of Deep Dive, Tech in Asia’s Melissa Goh sheds light on Advance Intelligence, discussing the common thread that runs through its various business units, how it fared during the pandemic, and the company’s plans for the future.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Intro music
00:47 – Today’s topic: Atome’s enigmatic parent company
01:45 – The well-known Atome and its lesser-known parent firm
03:23 – Joining the unicorn club
03:58 – Advance Intelligence Group’s many business arms
05:22 – Starting with B2B and moving towards B2C
07:33 – 2020: A tough year for Atome Financial
10:22 – The growth of its BNPL business
12:11 – Expansion plans in the works
12:43 – The future: BNPL 2.0

Download the full transcript here.

Featured reporter:

• Melissa Goh, a Tech in Asia journalist based in Singapore

Essential reading:

• The enigmatic unicorn behind BNPL firm Atome
• Southeast Asia’s biggest buy now, pay later players
• StanChart to pour $500m into Atome as part of strategic partnership
• Singapore’s Advance Intelligence Group enters unicorn club after SoftBank co-led $400m round

Episode sponsor: