Business
Seoul-based payment tech startup CHAI gets $60 million from Hanhwa, SoftBank Ventures Asia
Demand for contactless payments and e-commerce has grown in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is good news for payment service operators, but the market is very fragmented, so adding payment options is a time-consuming process for many merchants. CHAI wants to fix this with an API that enables companies to accept over 20 payment systems. The Seoul-based startup announced today it has raised a $60 million Series B.
The round was led by Hanhwa Investment & Securities, with participation from SoftBank Ventures Asia (the early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group), SK Networks, Aarden Partners and other strategic partners. It brings CHAI’s total funding to $75 million, including a $15 million Series A in February.
Last month, the Bank of Korea, South Korea’s central bank, released a report showing that contactless payments increased 17% year-over-year since the start of COVID-19.
CHAI serves e-commerce companies with an API called I’mport, that allows them to accept payments from over 20 options, including debit and credit cards through local payment gateways, digital wallets, wire transfers, carrier billings and PayPal. It is now used by 2,200 merchants, including Nike Korea and Philip Morris Korea.
CHAI chief executive officer Daniel Shin told TechCrunch that businesses would usually have to integrate each kind of online payment type separately, so I’mport saves its clients a lot of time.
The company also offers its own digital wallet and debit card called the CHAI Card, which launched in June 2019 and now has 2.5 million users, a small number compared with South Korea’s leading digital wallets, which include Samsung Pay, Naver Pay, Kakao Pay and Toss.
“CHAI is a late comer to Korea’s digital payments market, but we saw a unique opportunity to offer value,” said Shin. The CHAI Card offers merchants a lower transaction fee than other cards and users typically check its app about 20 times to see new cashback offers and other rewards based on how often they pay with their cards or digital wallet.
“We’ve digitized the plastic card experience, and this is the first step towards creating a robust online rewards platform,” Shin added.
In press statement, Hanhwa Investment & Securities director SeungYoung Oh director said, “I’mport has reduced what once took e-commerce businesses weeks to complete into a simple copy-and-paste task, radically reducing costs. It is a first-of-its-kind business model in Korea, and I have no doubt that CHAI will continue to grow this service into an essential infrastructure of the global fintech landscape.”
-
Business7 days ago
Google lays off workers, Tesla cans its Supercharger team and UnitedHealthcare reveals security lapses
-
Entertainment4 days ago
iPad Pro 2024 now has OLED: 5 reasons this is a big deal
-
Business6 days ago
The Rabbit r1 shipped half-baked, but that’s kind of the point
-
Entertainment5 days ago
Why should we care what celebrities like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish say about Palestine?
-
Entertainment4 days ago
‘Stardew Valley’ has an official cookbook. Here’s how to make Seafoam Pudding.
-
Business4 days ago
Legion’s founder aims to close the gap between what employers and workers need
-
Business4 days ago
NBA champion Kyle Kuzma looks to bring his team mentality to Scrum Ventures
-
Business3 days ago
Checkfirst raises $1.5M pre-seed, applying AI to remote inspections and audits