According to TechCrunch, South Korea’s Viva Republica, which runs the fintech powerhouse Toss, has secured US $405 million in a series G fundraising round headed by Tonic Private Equity.
After raising US$410 million in June 2021, Viva Republica’s valuation increased to 9.1 trillion won (US $7 billion), from 8.5 trillion won (US $6.5 billion).
Seunggun Lee, the company’s CEO, established Toss in 2015. The unicorn, which was initially released as a money transfer software, now provides services for stock trading, investment, insurance, peer-to-peer lending, credit scoring, and purchase now, pay later. According to the company, as of this August, Toss has 24 million registered users in South Korea.
“With the restaurant business recovering strongly after Covid, we were optimistic when we should have been cautious. We are now forced to recalibrate our investment in long-term projects, and focus on efficiency,” he stated.
The additional money will be used to expand the company’s services, including Toss Bank and the retail investment app Toss Securities, both of which aim to become profitable by the end of the current year.
According to prior Bloomberg reports, the business plans to go public by 2025.
Toss launched in Vietnam in Southeast Asia in 2019, and Lee told TechCrunch that his business may make further equity investments there in the future.
