Pace Enterprise, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm established by Turochas “T” Fuad, has raised $40 million in its Series A funding round.
UOB Venture Management (Singapore), Marubeni Ventures (Japan), Atinum Partners (South Korea), AppWorks (Taiwan), and a group of Japanese and Indonesian family offices are among the Series A investors.
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, Alpha JWC, and Genesis Alternative Ventures are among the existing investors.
Pace plans to utilise the cash to improve its technology, operations, and business growth in order to reach a gross merchandise value run rate of $1 billion in 2022 and increase its user base by 25 times in the following year.
Currently, the company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
Pace has over 3,000 places of sale around the area, according to a news release. It has expanded its international operations by collaborating closely with authorities and using ultra-local strategies, such as integrating commonly used in-market payment methods to increase merchant and shopper acceptance. As it expands into other nations, it will continue to reproduce a hyperlocal structure.
CEO Fuad said: “…the region [Southeast Asia] is expected to become the world’s fastest-growing BNPL market. This funding supports Pace in achieving its mission of democratising financial services for all by helping us pave our expansion into Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.”
Joon Oh, executive Director, Atinum Partners, commented: “The financial services industry in Asia is shifting dynamically, but Pace has managed to establish primacy in markets by tapping into local consumer curves to establish itself as a dominant player with its clear vision. Through this funding, we hope for Pace to continue empowering more people across Asia with innovative fintech services.”
Genesis Alternative Ventures sponsored an ‘eight-figure USD’ debt funding round for Pace in June. In addition, Valiram, luxury products, and retail experts established exclusive regional cooperation.
At the time of its formal launch in January, this debt round was preceded by a “seven-figure seed fundraising” round led by Vertex Ventures and Alpha JWC.
Fuad is a well-known figure in Southeast Asia’s startup sector, having founded and sold three businesses. WUF Networks, a Silicon Valley-based Internet of Things software business, was his maiden venture. Yahoo! purchased the firm in 2005.
Fuad also founded and served as the CEO of travelmob, an online vacation rental marketplace. In mid-2013, HomeAway (now part of Expedia) bought travelmob, a Singapore-based company.
Spacemob was founded and run by a serial entrepreneur in 2016. Following WeWork’s acquisition of Spacemob, he was named Managing Director of Southeast Asia and Korea.
In between his businesses, Fuad worked for Skype Asia Pacific as the Managing Director, overseeing the company’s development in Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia.
