BEIJING, March 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In February 2018, Chinese big data tech company Wecash Technology Co., Ltd ("Wecash") announced the completion of US$160 million Series D financing. The financing was led by ORIX Asia Capital Ltd and SEA Group, with co-investors SIG, Sagamore, Forebright, Lingfeng Capital and Hongdao Capital. Wecash founder and CEO Zhi Zhengchun said that the Series D funding will be used to widen the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in data mining, machine learning and smart chips and to expand the company's lifestyle service portfolio to include residential rentals, consumer goods and aesthetic surgery.
Wecash, China's first online credit assessment and reporting company, was founded in 2013 and has since established and built out wecash.net, the country's most advanced big data credit evaluation platform. Over the past two years, the company has expanded its business into Southeast Asia and South America, creating a credit assessment solutions provider for financial institutions worldwide. Wecash raised tens of millions of dollars in C Series financing led by China Merchants Group, SIG and Forebright, following the securing of nearly US$10 million in A Series financing from IDG and US$20 million in B Series financing from SIG.
Wecash offers rapid and accurate credit evaluation services by using data mining analysis and machine learning technologies. Based on the evaluation results, Wecash enables individual users and financial institutions to complete transactions quickly. In particular, the company supplies individuals with convenient financial services as well as lifestyle services, including 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics), residential rentals and access to aesthetic surgery, while providing partners with an opportunity to monetize their data on consumer behaviors and spending habits as well as assist financial institutions in securing tangible assets. As of the end of January 2018, Wecash had supplied hundreds of millions of credit reports based on the 130 million users whose credit histories were available in the WeCash database. In addition, the company has provided solutions to over 50 financial institutions and expanded its presence into Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil and the US as well as other countries and regions worldwide.
Compared with traditional financial institutions, Wecash establishes the connection between individual consumers and financial institutions much more efficiently, and has created a platform with a massive userbase that continues to grow while being able to nimbly meet their widely diversified expectations. The majority of the platform's users are young consumers aged between 18 and 30 with strong purchasing power, especially when it comes to the kind of accommodations they seek to rent as well as their 3C needs. After recognizing these needs, Mr. Zhi led the company in its expansion into both the online and offline consumer fields, including residential rentals, 3C and aesthetic surgery. He said that Wecash is no longer a company exclusively focusing on fintech but is seeking to establish a more expansive platform strategy in a move to create a new technology-driven consumer ecosystem based on the expectations of young consumers.
To uncover and leverage user value in the long term, Wecash, by learning from US retail giant Costco, has established a comprehensive membership system with a focus on management of the membership lifecycle. In September 2017, the company rolled out its VIP series of products, providing VIP members with benefits covering various lifestyle services across the hospitality, transportation, shopping, entertainment and home segments, in addition to the existing financial-related recommendation services.
Besides serving as a platform providing consumers worldwide with financial and consumer-oriented services, Wecash is also a technology firm integrating product design, technology development and collaborative capabilities as well as a 100 per cent fully automated risk control and product matching engine, enabling financial institution partners to efficiently secure real customer data in a more intelligent manner. Through Wecash, financial institutions will have the opportunity to serve hundreds of millions of users worldwide and significantly reduce the actual cost of acquiring customers.
Wecash's vision is to use AI technology and machine learning chips to provide services across a variety of industries, including finance, residential rentals and consumer goods, delivering a better living experience to its users. A startup with strong competence in innovation and technology, Wecash is expected to continue to lead the way in an era that features new technologies and consumption models that serve a population of increasingly discerning consumers.
CONTACT: JingYi Chen, +86 18559926253
View original content:
