Financial brokerage startup receives $6 million in capital

MFast - a platform for distributing financial products through a network of collaborators, has just successfully raised 6 million USD in Series A round.

Leading the investment round is Wavemaker Partners (Singapore) along with Finnoventure Fund I (Thailand), Headline Asia and previous round investors including Do Ventures, JAFCO Asia, Ascend Vietnam Ventures.

Phan Thanh Long, CEO of MFast, said that the investment in the midst of the “fundraising winter” is an important milestone. Operating mainly in tier 2 and 3 cities, the startup plans to increase cooperation with financial institutions to design separate financial products for each customer segment, as well as prepare to expand to the Philippines in 2024.

Launched in 2017, MFast is a platform of DigiPay, a startup operating in the field of financial technology (Fintech) in Vietnam under the management of twin brothers Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh. MFast provides sales channels in the field of finance - insurance through a network of 160,000 collaborators to date.

Founders Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh. Photo: Do Ventures — Founders Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh. Photo: *Do Ventures*

The platform is currently present in 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam, providing technology and logistics infrastructure as well as training for collaborators. Through this, these collaborators are equipped with knowledge of financial services and earn income from brokerage activities through the application. They have reached more than one million customers to date.

Vietnam is becoming an important factor in promoting the wave of consumption in Southeast Asia in the next 10 years. With a population of 100 million, of which the middle class is currently about 40% and is expected to increase to 75% by 2030, the growth potential of this market is huge, according to consulting firm McKinsey.

However, access to financial products and services, such as loans and insurance, remains uneven across Vietnam’s provinces and cities. People in 17 tier-2 cities have difficulty accessing these services, according to investment fund Do Ventures.

In the first half of 2023, MFast's collaborators' income increased by 62% compared to the same period last year. In the near future, this Fintech continues to promote cooperation with UOB, SHBFinance, TPBank, VPBank, and Kasikorn Bank. Mr. Sam Tanskul, CEO of Krungsri Finnovate, said that this is the first Vietnamese startup to receive investment from Finnoventure Fund I managed by Krungsri Finnovate.

Krungsri Finnovate is an investment fund under Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), the fifth largest financial group in Thailand. The fund manages Finnoventure Fund I, established in 2021 with the aim of investing in companies from Series A onwards in Thailand and Southeast Asia. The Thai investor's investment in MFast also aims to strengthen its partnership with SHB Finance, Krungsri's consumer finance business in Vietnam.

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