YC-backed Fazz Financial eyes series C funding

Fazz Financial Group is looking to raise a series C funding round this year, and it has already drawn the interest of several “top-tier US tech investors.”

The Southeast Asian fintech firm also said that its monthly revenue jumped 2x to US$2.6 million in December 2021. Its monthly transactions also hit over US$800 million, a threefold increase from the same period the previous year.

“We are on track to double those numbers this year,” Fazz Financial CEO Hendra Kwik told Tech in Asia.

Fazz Financial Group co-founder Tianwei Liu (left) and Hendra Kwik / Photo credit: Fazz Financial Group

Fazz Financial is the new entity that emerged after Singapore-based Xfers and Payfazz – which Kwik co-founded – joined forces last year. Both companies are graduates of Y Combinator, the US-based startup accelerator. Kwik now serves as group CEO of Fazz Financial, while Xfers co-founder Tianwei Liu is the deputy CEO.

Since 2016, Payfazz and Xfers have collectively raised more than US$74.1 million in funding from prominent investors such as Tiger Global and DST Partners. Fazz Financial currently serves more than 150,000 businesses and has around 600 employees.

Building a financial super app

After Payfazz poured US$30 million investment into Xfers last year, the companies decided to integrate their products and come up with a combined offering.

Payfazz usually only serves SMEs, but it can now cater to startups and big enterprises, thanks to Xfers’ API solution. On the other hand, Xfers can also provide Payfazz-developed solutions in Singapore.

The “marriage” seems to be a fruitful one in terms of processed transactions. Payfazz, which initially only operated in Indonesia, now gets almost half of its gross merchandise value (GMV) from its Singapore business, according to Kwik.

StraitsX, an Xfers service that focuses on digital assets, registered US$1.5 billion in transactions from January to October 2021.

See also: This CEO is building the “Google Play of financial services” for Indonesia

Fazz Financial currently has four business models: payments enabler, cash storing, credit solution, and financial tools (which includes HR management and bookkeeping). The company generates revenue from commissions or subscription fees.

While payment solutions are still its bread and butter, Fazz Financial said that growth from credit solutions and financial tool subscriptions also looks promising.

Today, its service is still fragmented into different apps. For example, users need to download the Payfazz app for bills payment, Payfazz Buku for bookkeeping services, and Modal Rakyat to apply for loans.

Continue to reinvest profits