Social payments startup Kashmi is ready to launch with new seed funding

Image credit: Kashmi

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments startup Kashmi has secured S$700,000 (US$497,000) in seed funding, it announced today.

The startup allows users to send and receive money regardless of which bank they’re using, and to split payments between groups. They can top up their mobile e-wallet using credit and debit cards or even wire transfer, and can sign up to the app with just a name and a phone number or email address. Having soft-launched earlier this year, the app will include social features like chat and a sharing feed, payment tracking, and merchant payments once it’s available next month.

The startup enters a busy space, particularly in Singapore where both startups and larger companies are looking into P2P payments. Fastacash enables payments within apps like WhatsApp and Facebook, and has worked on premier Singapore bank DBS’ mobile payments app Paylah. Singaporean telco SingTel, in collaboration with Standard Chartered, has its own similar offering called Dash. The list goes on.

Kashmi’s team is spread across Sri Lanka and Singapore.

The funding was led by Akbar Group Sri Lanka and VAMM Ventures, a Dubai-based venture capital firm that invests in early and seed stage companies. It was joined by a number of angel investors and corporates from Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Kashmi will use the funds to continue working on its product, expand its reach in Southeast Asia, and beef up its sales and marketing resources in order to grow faster.

See: Fintech can be the unbanked’s best hope for financial inclusionKashmi was one of the startups that graduated from Startupbootcamp Fintech Singapore’s 2015 class. It also completed the Turn8 accelerator program in Dubai. It was funded by a team with diverse skills and expertise. CEO Rakhil Fernando has been a VP at Credit Suisse and Coutts & Co., as well as a serial entrepreneur. CTO Mufaddel Lukmanjee has experience running his own software development company in Sri Lanka and has worked for the London Stock Exchange. And COO Rajinda Jayasinghe is a former VP for online education startup Ubiquity University and has eight year of experience in project management.

We have reached out to Kashmi for more information and we will update this story when we hear back.

The startup claims it aimed at a S$600,000 (US$426,000) round, but found it generated enough interest among investors to justify raising more. The seed round will apparently close off at S$750,000 (US$533,000).