Singapore and Thailand-headquartered digital payments firm 2C2P is counting on its new venture capital arm to accelerate growth and capture new opportunities across Southeast Asia.
The company raised as much as $52 million last year and has set aside $15 million for its newly-established VC arm.
“We are very positive about the online payment outlook… we have come across a lot of companies that we want to engage with commercially. So for us, having established this investment arm enables us to go deeper and further expand the commercial relationship,” said Aung Kyaw Moe, founder and group CEO at 2C2P.
The firm is witnessing steady growth in Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
“The payment space is moving extremely fast. We have come across really interesting companies that we want to be part of, and the inception [of the VC arm] is to make sure we are fully plugged in to what’s the latest and the greatest,” said Moe.
The VC will make investments from $500,000 upwards and could further take majority stakes in targeted companies, Moe said.
In December 2019, 2C2P established a Vietnam entity and acquired an additional 50 per cent in 2C2P Cambodia to wholly own the unit. The group’s investments into subsidiaries reached $4.9 million by the end of 2019, compared to a $4.1 million figure in 2018.
“We still have a lot of headroom to grow, and Southeast Asia is pretty similar to a market like China, where e-commerce is not a luxury but a necessity,” Moe said.
The company generated more than $2 million in comprehensive income in 2019, compared to a $1.1-million loss a year earlier, according to its audited financial statement released in May 2020. Revenue for the year stood at $81.5 million, a 57 per cent jump from 2018.
Edited excerpts of an interview:-
