Toss Raises $40M In New Round Of VC Funding

Viva Republica, Korea’s FinTech startup and maker of financial services app Toss, announced  Monday (June 18) it has completed a $40 million round of funding raising. In a press release, Viva Republica said the funding came from GIC and Sequoia China, and with it has raised total funding of $116 million.

SG Lee, co-founder and CEO of Viva Republica, said in a press release announcing the funding, “We are proud and honored to become partners with GIC and Sequoia China — some of the world’s most prominent investors. This bridge round is a strategic investment, which will enable us to explore major opportunities, such as investments and acquisitions to become the go-to service for all consumer financial needs while providing superb user experience.”

Toss launched in 2015 as a P2P money transfer service, but has now expanded the platform to provide a full suite of financial services. That, according to the company, makes it easy for users to manage all the different facets of their daily financial lives. In addition to money transfers, the app can access different consumer finance services within the app, including a financial dashboard, credit score management, customized loan and insurance plans, and investment services. Viva Republica said Toss has more than 8 million registered users and a customer base that almost doubled from a year ago. It expects to process more than $17 billion in transaction run rate and has a trackable monthly transaction volume of roughly $10 billion.

Glen Sun, partner of Sequoia China, said in the same press release, “Toss’ evolution as a mobile financial services platform is very impressive. In addition to a seamless user experience and robust technology stack, the company’s monetization strategy and revenue growth are also remarkable. In Toss, we see all the signs of a successful company that we’ve witnessed in our portfolio — companies that have grown to become Asia’s leading unicorns. We strongly believe that Toss will dominate the Korean market and become a FinTech giant.”