Thai payments company bags one of Golden Gate Ventures’ largest Southeast Asia investments

Thailand-based online payments startup Omise announced today it has raised a funding round from venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures. Omise refers to this as an “expansion round,” which means it will use the funds to expand beyond its home market and into Southeast Asia. This is the third time it has raised money, having previously banked US$2.6 million for its series A in May 2015.

The funding amount is undisclosed, although Omise tells Tech in Asia it is one of the largest investments made by Golden Gate so far. The startup will have full access to the fund right away, and says it will put all of it toward expansion to new markets and hiring talent. It intends to enter Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Hong Kong by mid-2016. It’s already running a closed beta in Indonesia and Japan.

Hires will include a business development team in Singapore, as well as a support team to handle the expansion. “Previously, we recruited a VP to oversee the business strategy, filled various positions in the operations team, hired more developers, and also filled a position which handles international business expansion,” Omise COO and co-founder Ezra Don Harinsut tells Tech in Asia.

“We have been looking forward to expanding our business beyond Thailand for quite some time,” he says. The startup was drawn to Singapore as a technology hub of Southeast Asia, which presented “interesting opportunities” for its business, he adds.

See: These are the 15 most funded fintech startups in Southeast Asia (INFOGRAPHIC)Omise met with Golden Gate while trying to explore opportunities in Singapore. The two companies talked about potential partnership for over a year, Ezra says, with the VC firm offering valuable advice. “Eventually, Vinnie [Lauria, Golden Gate Ventures founding partner] suggested a more solid relationship, so we decided to proceed on this funding project,” he says.

Golden Gate has previously invested in several ecommerce startups such as Singapore’s Redmart, Carousell, and HipVan, as well as payments startups like Filipino company Ayannah and Singaporean company Coda Payments. As a provider of payments for ecommerce websites, Omise fits quite well into that puzzle.

Plug ‘n’ pay

Omise’s product allows ecommerce merchants to accept credit card payments via its mobile and web interface and suite of APIs made for software developers. The company wants to be a one-stop shop for any online seller that wants a simple but complete solution for their transactions.

As the startup grows, it will try to include more forms of payment into its system, such as online banking. For now, however, it claims to serve over 2,000 merchants in Thailand, including cable TV and internet provider True. It says it grew 56 percent in transaction volume between Q1 and Q2 2015, and 269 percent in Q3. Ezra says the company has been dealing with a four-digit transaction rate during the previous quarter, but it remains optimistic that the numbers will climb to six digits soon.

With payment startups popping out all over the place and looking to ride the ecommerce wave hitting the coasts of Southeast Asia, Omise feels it’s well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. “Although there are countless startups within the same business, there hasn’t yet been one which offers a “one-stop-shop” service for regional users,” Ezra says.

See: HipVan targets millennial shoppers with $3.3M series A fundingAnd in any case, the company doesn’t think of this as a winner-take-all situation. “We do not think of other online payment gateways as our competitors, as we believe that each and every one of us in this business is unique in their own distinguished way,” Ezra offers. Partnering with local players in the markets the company is looking at isn’t out of the question either. “It is a great chance for us to learn and understand the demands of local users,” he explains.

Companies trying to crack the payments landscape in Southeast Asia, each in its own way, include Fastacash, 2C2P, and the aforementioned Ayannah and Coda Payments. At the same time, global players like Braintree are already operating in the region, while Stripe is currently running a private beta with merchants in Singapore and Japan, two of Omise’s major target markets.

What do you think of the online payments landscape in the region? Are you using any one of these products for your business?