South Korean financial super app Toss raises $410 million, betting on Vietnam

South Korean financial super app Toss raises $410 million, betting on Vietnam

The fresh investment included KRW100 billion ($88 million) from state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) and KRW84 billion ($74.4 million) from US investment firm Alkeon Capital Management, according to a company statement.

Following the funding, Toss has become South Korea’s second-most valuable startup, behind only PUBG creator Krafton Inc.

Launched in 2015, Toss offers a wide range of financial services such as money transfers, mobile payments, and brokerage services via a single mobile app. Toss currently has 20 million users, accounting for 40 per cent of South Korea’s 51.3 million population. The fintech firm plans to launch Toss Bank as early as September this year.

To expand its operations, Toss selected Vietnam as its first overseas market. Viva Republica launched Toss in Vietnam in 2020 to tap into the country’s large tech-savvy population. Last August, Toss joined hands with CIMB Bank Vietnam to launch a co-branded virtual card aimed at building an active community for the young generation and bringing fintech closer to everyday life.

“Toss Card powered by CIMB” is the country’s first-ever bank account that can be opened and maintained straight from the non-bank app.

Toss users in Vietnam will be able to apply for and get a virtual card on the Toss app with eKYC solutions from CIMB, and enjoy their daily activities with rewards on a single platform.

As of present, Toss currently has over 3 million monthly active users in Vietnam with additional 500,000 active users every month.

“The product that we built for Vietnam is actually quite scalable across all Southeast Asia markets, so it’s a matter of time,” founder and chief executive officer SG Lee told Techcrunch. “But we want to focus on the Vietnam market because it’s scaling increasingly fast and we have to cover the growth.”

From Vietnam, Toss will extend its reach to other Southeast Asian markets. The company plans to expand to Malaysia by the end of this year.