Singapore’s Advance Intelligence Group enters unicorn club after SoftBank co-led $400m round

This is an updated version of an article published on September 9, 2021.

Singapore-headquartered technology company Advance Intelligence Group has announced the closing of its over US$400 million series D round from an investor consortium led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg Pincus.

Jefferson Chen, co-founder, group chairman, and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group / Photo credit: Advance Intelligence Group

Northstar, Vision Plus Capital, Gaorong Capital, and EDBI also participated in the round.

The fresh funding takes the company’s valuation to US$2 billion, propelling it into the unicorn club.

The new capital will be used to fuel the company’s growth in the digital lending space across Asia, deepen its AI and big data analytics capabilities, and expand its enterprise client coverage. It also plans to grow its global talent pool.

Incorporated in 2016, Advance Intelligence Group has built an ecosystem of AI-powered, credit-enabled products and services. These include buy now, pay later platform Atome, big data analytics and enterprise solutions provider Advance.ai, Indonesian digital lending platform Kredit Pintar, and ecommerce merchant services platform Ginee.

The group, founded by GSR Ventures partner Jefferson Chen, employs 1,500 staff. It currently operates in 12 markets across South and Southeast Asia, Greater China, and Latin America. The company says it serves more than 800 enterprise clients, 100,000 merchants, and 20 million consumers.

“At the heart of our vision is an AI-powered and credit-enabled marketplace ecosystem driving both digital commerce and digital financial services across Asia,” said Chen in a statement.