Temasek unit, Alpha JWC lead 7-figure funding in ex-WeWork exec’s BNPL firm

“Buy now, pay later” (BNPL) firm Pace Enterprise has announced its launch after banking a “high seven-figure” fundraise in its seed round led by Temasek unit Vertex Ventures and Alpha JWC.

Turochas Fuad, CEO of Pace/ Photo credit: WeWork

Pace was launched by Turochas Fuad, who was the founder of accommodation startup Travelmob and co-working firm Spacemob as well as the former managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea for WeWork. From July 2009 to April 2012, Fuad was also the managing director of Skype’s Asia-Pacific operations.

His new venture, Pace, matches customers with appropriate spending limits that allow them to split their purchases over three interest-free installments. The service is available in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

Funds raised from the financing round will be used to develop the company’s platform and offer progressive services and solutions to consumers and merchants.

“The reason we launched Pace—and our long-term goal—is to create a broader and more inclusive digital fintech platform that empowers underserved populations,” said Fuad, who is also the company’s CEO. “To achieve this, BNPL is the right first step that flexibly and seamlessly extends customers’ buying limits while giving merchants access to financing alternatives and entirely new customer segments.”

Currently, Pace claims to have added over “300 points-of-sale” – including online and offline channels – with over 200 merchant partners including Goldheart, Osim, Sincere Watch, Carousell, Reebonz, and FJ Benjamin.

The company aims to cater to 5,000 merchant partners by the end of 2021 by expanding into North Asia and the rest of Southeast Asia.

See also: ‘Buy now, pay later’ heats up in Singapore with Grab, Mastercard entering the scene

As part of its BNPL pilot program in Singapore, Pace signed an exclusive partnership with Carousell that enables certain merchants on the platform to offer Pace’s payment option to their customers.

The fast-growing BNPL segment has taken Asia by storm and has also attracted regional players to set up their own services in Singapore. Similar BNPL players in the city-state include OctiFi, Rely, and Atome.

Meanwhile, super app Grab has also added its own pay-later offering to its financial services mix late last year.