Hong Kong Fintech Raises $40 Million to Build Infrastructure for Web3 Payments

Quick take:

• Reap has raised $40 million in a round led by Acorn Pacific Ventures, Arcadia fund and HashKey Capital.
• The fintech startup said it will use the funds to accelerate global expansion and build infrastructure for web3 payments.
• The fundraising also attracted participation from the likes of Payment Asia, Hustle Fund and Fresco Capital.

Reap has announced the completion of a $40 million funding round led by US-based venture capital firms Acorn Pacific Ventures and Arcadia Funds, and Hong Kong digital asset manager HashKey Capital.

The fundraising also attracted participation from Payment Asia, another fintech based in Hong Kong, as well as US venture capital firms Hustle Fund and Fresco Capital, among others.

According to the statement released on Thursday, Reap said it plans to use the funds to expand across Asia, North America and Europe. The company wants to double its team, which currently has around 40 employees, by the end of 2023.

Reap’s new fundraising will also be used to accelerate the development of the web3 payment infrastructure.

The company was founded in 2018 to offer a comprehensive financial management service to companies. But so far it has been able to offer services related to online invoicing and credit card payments, launched in partnership with Visa. The company has long-term goals to offer services in payroll and procurement.

Recently, Reap has entered the blockchain and crypto space to allow companies to repay credit card balances with stablecoins. This opens up more opportunities for the Hong Kong-based startup, including the ability to offer on-rump and off-rump services to mainstream businesses.

On-rump services allow users to convert fiat currency into crypto, while off-rump is the opposite.

Commenting on the fundraising and plans to develop an infrastructure for crypto payments, Daren Guo, co-founder of Reap, said the company wants to build “software and tools to enable more traditional businesses to get to payment digitization faster.”

“At the same time, we want to enable access and connectivity for Web3 projects to ensure they can continue to innovate and bring much of their ideas and creativity to apply to some of these more traditional companies,” Guo added.

Reap’s mission is to help give cryptocurrency firms access to traditional merchants and brick-and-mortar services.

Reap is used by some of the biggest web3 companies, including CZ’s Binance and Yat Sius’ Animoca Brands, among others. It has also snapped up some mainstream customers, including Taiwanese computer giant Acer.

Although the crypto payment feature is still in the trial stage, Guo hopes that the feature will eventually be able to cover services covered by a credit card.

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