Beacon VC invests in “InstaReM” – ASEAN’s leading cross-border payments fintech startup

Beacon VC has joined hands with a number of international investors in a THB1.5-billion investment in InstaReM – a leading fintech startup that provides cross-border payment service to individuals and enterprises in more than 40 countries. This association is expected to further improve KASIKORNBANK (KBank)’s efficiency in retail funds transfer service, leading to rapid growth in both transaction volumes and value.

Announcing the investment in Singapore-headquartered InstaReM, Mr. Thanapong Na Ranong, Managing Director of Beacon VC, said: “Beacon Venture Capital, KBank’s VC arm, and MDI Ventures, the VC arm of Indonesia’s Telkomsel, have co-invested in InstaReM, which is one of the fastest growing fintech startups in ASEAN, which has received investments from leading investors such as Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings, Global Founders Capital, GSR Ventures and SBI-FMO in previous two rounds. We have been following InstaReM for some time and are happy to be a part of and support their exciting journey.” The Series C round of investment totaling around THB1.5 billion is expected to close in January 2019, and the company aims to list on a stock exchange in 2021.

Presently, inward and outward retail funds transfers of Thailand total approximately 11.8 million transactions a year, amounting to THB2.15 trillion. Out of these transactions, around one million transactions are conducted via KBank, with a combined value of THB400 billion a year.

Mr. Prajit Nanu, Co-founder and CEO of InstaReM, said InstaRem is one of the first Asian remittance providers to venture outside of Asia, and has been able to secure this historic round of funding.  In less than 4 years, InstaReM has become the payment backbone for emerging markets for banks and other global financial institutions and have clients across almost all continents. This new round of funding enables the company to accelerate growth by launching new products.

InstaReM provides cross-border payments service in more than 40 countries. Its latest fundraising will add greater efficiency, accelerate growth in InstaReM’s existing markets and enable the company to enter new markets in Japan and Indonesia, where it hopes to receive licenses by this year-end. This round will also enable InstaReM to develop new products in response with evolving requirements of customers, including small-scale businesses to retailers.

Last quarter, the company signed up with 20 new financial institution customers, which will start using its service in the first quarter of 2019 with expected monthly volume of 6-8 billion baht.