SINGAPORE, Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative digital payments company Pomelo Pay (Pomelo) announced today that it has raised US$10 million in a Series A round led by UK-based independent investment firm Inference Partners. The investment will allow the company to expand its presence across global markets including Europe and Asia, starting with plans to double their workforce in London, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Launched in 2018 in UK and Singapore, Pomelo allows merchants to digitise their payment infrastructure and take payments from anyone, in any location (physical or digital), at near zero costs. The company provides an integration with over 30 payment networks globally. Its payments platform is also used by leading banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) for a drastically improved acquiring experience, enabling them to offer the broadest suite of payment acceptance solutions to their end customers.
The company crossed US$500 million in total payments processed for 2021 and projects a growth of five times by 2022.The company has made several high-profile appointments recently, including Sonam Bhutia, former Commercial Director for Alipay in Southeast Asia, who joins as Chief Commercial Officer.
In the recently released e-Conomy SEA 2021 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, the report cited that 35% of the 3,000 digital merchants (SMEs) surveyed would not have survived the pandemic without selling on digital platforms. The report found that digital payments in Southeast Asia rose 9% in gross transaction value (GTV) to US$707 billion this year from 2020 and is projected to hit over US$1.1 trillion by 2025. While digital financial services were critical enablers for their businesses, nine in 10 digital merchants now accept digital payments and 72% of them are likely to increase usage over the next two years.
Pomelo last raised a $2.9m seed investment led by Force Over Mass, who also invested in this round. The firm has 50 people in its team across its headquarters in London and offices in Singapore and Vietnam.
Vincent Choi, CEO and Co-founder of Pomelo Pay said, "This investment from Inference Partners comes at an opportune time where businesses and SMEs in Southeast Asia have become accustomed to selling on digital platforms. We plan to capitalise on the huge pace of growth and adoption by partnering banks and NBFIs from emerging markets to offer merchants easy and affordable payment solutions to help them innovate their business and grow their customer base."
He added, "I'd like to thank all our investors for their support as we expand Pomelo Pay's global presence across Europe and Asia. This helps us in taking a more holistic approach of building a payment infrastructure, on the cloud, where world leading banks and financial institutions have adopted using our API-based acquiring solution to integrate origination, working capital financing, credit scoring, card issuing, invoicing and more."
Endre Sagi, Managing Partner of Inference Partners added, "Pomelo is perfectly positioned to address the market need for a best-in-class API first platform, allowing a seamless adoption by our clients. This will in turn allow their end customers to offer acceptance solutions and roll out a range of integrated financial products. Pomelo's senior management's long-term vision and deep payments expertise are particularly impressive, and I believe Pomelo has potential to be a leader in the payments industry."
About Pomelo Pay
Pomelo Pay, founded in 2017, is an innovative digital payments service provider that allows businesses to take payments from anyone, in any location (physical or digital), at a low cost and without the need for hardware. In December 2020, Pomelo Pay raised a seed investment led by Force Over Mass. Headquartered in London, the firm also has its regional headquarter in Singapore with an expanded presence in countries across Europe and Asia.
Pomelo Pay is a Mastercard principal issuing member, authorised to issue payment cards directly to its SME customer base and make direct payment settlements with Mastercard.
For more information, please visit https://www.pomelopay.com/.
About Inference Partners
Inference Partners is an independent technology investment firm exclusively focused on early-stage infrastructure software investments. Key focus areas include data and machine learning infrastructure, cybersecurity, capital markets, payment infrastructure and blockchain technologies. The firm partners with entrepreneurs to increase their chance of success by sharing our deep expertise in commercializing complex and core technology and by providing access to a network of potential customers, strategic partners and downstream investors and acquirers. Inference Partners is an investment firm backed by a group of experienced technology entrepreneurs.
