Digital bank Timo bolsters position with fresh $10 million investment
Digital bank Timo bolsters position with fresh $10 million investment
Timo, a prominent digital bank in Vietnam, has just garnered an additional $10 million of funding from its current shareholder base, according to insider reports gathered by DealStreetAsia.
The participants in this latest funding round remain undisclosed, as does the bank's intended use for this fresh capital injection.
According to data provided by CrunchBase, before this latest round, Timo had raised a substantial $20 million during a venture round in 2022.
Timo's notable roster of investors features a panoply of global and regional names, such as Jungle Ventures, Kredivo Holdings, Phoenix Holdings, Granite Oak, and Square Peg Capital. The latter, an esteemed venture capital entity with successful investments in illustrious startups like Canva, FinAccel, and Airwallex, was the lead participant in Timo's venture round.
The 2022 venture round took place amidst burgeoning enthusiasm for digital banking services across Southeast Asia, and more prominently, in Vietnam. While many Vietnamese users maintained a balance between digital platforms and physical branches, the user base of digital banking surged by an impressive 41 per cent in 2021.
That year also marked a significant shift in Timo's top management. Henry Nguyen, concurrently serving as chairman at Phoenix Holdings and McDonald's Vietnam, assumed the role of executive chairman at Timo.
Meanwhile, Jonas Eichhorst stepped into the CEO's shoes. Eichhorst, who joined Timo's board as CFO in 2020, brings to the table an expansive 15-year tenure in various management capacities spanning investment and tech development across a spectrum of countries including Singapore, Vietnam, India, and Pakistan.
Founded in 2015, Timo has been at the forefront of providing digital banking solutions that streamline payments and banking transactions, thus obviating the need for customers to frequent conventional branches.
The bank has made it possible for users to open bank accounts remotely, without any in-person registration. Furthermore, Timo provides tools for customers to conceptualise their financial goals with flexible or fixed savings options, all without any hidden costs.
In a strategic shift in 2020, Timo announced the end of its alliance with VPBank, opting instead to partner with the Viet Capital Bank.
In addition to securing further financial resources, Timo has also engaged with esteemed partners to amplify its capabilities and cement its position in the digital banking landscape.
For instance, last year, Timo partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to train 60 of its IT staff. The training focused on building architecture, development, security, big data, AI, and machine learning. These sessions facilitated insightful discussions about Timo's cloud service processes, helping teams enhance their understanding and application of AWS services.
