Omise, a Bangkok-based payment enabler much like Stripe, has raised a $17.5 million Series B round to expand its reach across Southeast Asia.
The company proves a payment gateway system that allows any retailer take credit card payments online. That’s long been a problem in Southeast Asia, which is compromised of six major countries, each of which requires a different payment solution — Omise is trying to offer a one-stop shop.
Right now, its service is available in Thailand and Japan (the birthplace of CEO Jun Hasegawa), but there are plans to expand to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, where it has carried out closed testing, in the coming months. Beyond that, Omise is looking at reaching Vietnam, the Philippines, and Mekong countries like Burma, Laos and Cambodia at a later date.
This new round, which is one of the largest for a fintech company in Southeast Asia to date, was led by Japan-based SBI Investment, with participation from Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) in Indonesia, Thailand’s Ascend Money (affiliated with mobile operator True), and existing backer Golden Gate Ventures.
Omise has now raised over $25 million, including a $2.6 million Series A in May 2015 and undisclosed round from Golden Gate Ventures last October, right after the Singapore-based VC firm announced a new $50 million fund.
Omise — which is pronounced ‘Oh-Mee-Say’ and means ‘store’ in Japanese — was founded in 2014 by Hasegawa and Thailand-born COO Ezra “Donnie” Harinsut, who became friends after meeting on a homestay trip.
(Source: TechCrunch)