VentureTECH SBI Sdn Bhd, a venture capital firm, led a $2.2 million Series A funding round for the Malaysian FinTech company Bayo Pay (M) Sdn Bhd.
VentureTECH SBI and VentureTECH Sdn Bhd, according to a statement from Bayo Pay, invested MYR 7 million ($1.52 million) and MYR 3 million ($650,000) in Bayo Pay, respectively.
“The investments will be utilised to fund Bayo Pay’s expansion by onboarding new clients and promoting its ancillary digital services,” said Aznul Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Bayo Pay.
He claims that the investments will also significantly improve the company’s operations and support the capital expenditure needs as part of its future strategies to grow its clientele, boost collaborative-based revenue, and further narrow its focus on its specialty verticals.
“We are thrilled to have both VentureTECH SBI and VentureTECH as our cornerstone institutional investors and we believe this investment validates our business roadmap, as we execute our strategies to leverage on the global surge in use of digital payments,” he said.
This is the first investment made by VentureTECH SBI, a joint-venture fund management company between VentureTECH and SBI Ventures Malaysia Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI Holdings, Inc Japan), which specializes in venture capital and private equity activities in the Southeast Asian region, according to the statement.
With the addition of Bayo Pay, VentureTECH now has 25 technology industry leaders invested in or committed to investments in its targeted high technology and emerging industries, with an aggregate investee net worth exceeding MYR 2 billion ($440 million). This is VentureTECH’s first investment in the Fintech market segments since its founding.
“Our MYR 7 million ($1.52 million) investment will speed up Bayo Pay’s product development cycle through hiring additional talents and client acquisition,” said Mohd Jerry Tan, Principal of VentureTECH SBI.
A government-backed impact investment firm called VentureTECH was founded to use equity investment to spur the growth of local businesses, particularly Bumiputera ones, in high-value-added and high-tech sectors.
As a fully owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), the company was established.
In order to support the development of local fintech startups in Malaysia, Bayo Pay is a licensed Mastercard non-bank E-money issuer. This will help the company grow its core business and improve its B2B2X white-label Digital Payment-as-a-Service solutions.
With a growing and captive user base, Bayo Pay focuses on providing small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and corporates with integrated end-to-end digital payment solutions.
