Viva Republica head Lee Seung-gun plans taking his finance superapp Toss to its subsequent stage with push in Southeast Asia and a blockbuster funding spherical within the works—and that’s only the start.
It’s been seven years since Lee Seung-gun turbocharged South Korea’s cellular funds business together with his money-transfer app, Toss, which he then beefed up right into a monetary companies superapp.
The previous dentist is searching for a bit of Asia’s fast-growing fintech market, setting the stage for bold plans to go international. “We have banking, securities and all that in a single app, which is giving [investors] extra confidence that Toss would possibly develop into the primary participant in your entire fintech business,” says Lee, founder and CEO of Viva Republica, the app’s operator, in an interview.
To pull it off, Lee is making ready a brand new funding spherical at a valuation of over $10 billion within the second quarter. “Already, a variety of buyers try to succeed in out to us,” he says.
This potential elevate is on high of $940 million in complete funds obtained since 2014 from buyers together with PayPal, Sequoia Capital China and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
The bulk got here final June when Viva Republica raised $410 million at a valuation of $7.4 billion, making it the highest-valued startup in South Korea, in line with researcher CB Insights, and Lee, a billionaire. He debuts on this 12 months’s Korea Rich List at No. 36 with a internet value of $1.2 billion.