Fintech Nium becomes unicorn after raising over US$200mln

Singapore’s Nium plans to use the funds to expand in the US and Latin America

Singapore’s Nium, a payments start-up which serves businesses, became a fintech unicorn in the country after raising over US$200 million in fresh funding.

The company said on Tuesday its value topped US$1 billion after a Series D round led by United States-based Riverwood Capital. Other backers included Temasek, Visa, Vertex Ventures, Beacon Venture Capital and Rocket Capital. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC also joined the round, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Nium plans to use the funds to expand in the US and Latin America before pursuing an initial public offering in the US in 18 to 24 months, chief executive Prajit Nanu, 39, said in an interview with Bloomberg. He said the company may pursue a secondary listing in Singapore later.

It will remain on the lookout for acquisition targets in those markets as well as in Australia, he said. The start-up has bought London-based Ixaris as well as Wirecard Forex India this year.

Nium’s unicorn status marks a milestone in Singapore. There are over 1,000 fintech start-ups in the country, mainly focusing on payments, lending, investment and personal finance.

Pine Labs, a payments platform for merchants in India and South-east Asia, is one of the most valuable fintech start-ups based in Singapore, valued at US$3 billion.

There has been a glass ceiling for South-east Asian fintech start-ups with much investor focus placed on richly funded consumer tech giants such as Singapore’s Grab Holdings as well as Gojek and other Indonesian unicorns, Mr Nanu said. That ceiling has been broken and we’re likely to see more unicorns, largely in fintech, coming out of Singapore.