PayPal gives a Toss about Viva Republica’s $80m funding
Viva Republica, a fintech start-up in Korea and maker of Toss, the finserv platform, has raised $80 million round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital.
Kleiner Perkins has previously invested in tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Twitter. Ribbit Capital, has a portfolio of companies including Coinbase, Robinhood, and Credit Karma.
This is the first investment in a Korean start-up for both investors, with many returning investors, including Altos Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Goodwater Capital, KTB Network, Novel, PayPal and Qualcomm Ventures.
With this investment, Viva Republica reaches a $1.2 billion valuation.
Toss, which started as a peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer service in 2015, has become a platform providing financial services, with more than ten million users.
Toss has reached a transaction volume run rate of $18 billion and offers more than 25 financial services on the app, including financial dashboard, savings/loan accounts, credit score management, customised loan/insurance plans, and investment services such as P2P investment, mutual funds, and foreign stocks.
“South Korea is one of the world’s largest economies and is at the forefront of an emerging fintech movement driven by an explosion of mobile adopters,” says Noah Knauf, general partner at Kleiner Perkins.
“As an investor focused on fintech, we believe Toss has significant possibilities ahead for growth and profitability, particularly when comparing Toss to other global fintech players and seeing the size of Korea’s financial market,” adds Nikolay Kostov, partner at Ribbit Capital.
Toss has also experienced an upswing in popularity as Korean regulation of the fintech market has opened to accommodate a broader audience.
The company plans to establish a securities brokerage business and expand its presence across the South East Asian market.
The $80 million round brings the total funding raised by Viva Republica to nearly $200 million.
