Ant Financial has raised a monster $14 billion in Series C equity financing, pushing the value of the giant Chinese conglomerate above $100 billion.
The financing round includes an RMB tranche raised by Ant Financial from domestic investors and a USD tranche - estimated at over $10 billion - from international investors.
Funds raised will be used to accelerate Alipay’s globalisation plans, invest in developing technology and to cultivate high-tech talent in emerging markets, where the company had made a slew of investments and joint ventures across South East Asia.
Figures seen by Reuters suggest in five years, Ant expects 65% of revenue to come from business-oriented financial technology including assisting banks and other institutions as well as providing fraud prevention services.
Eric Jing, executive chairman and CEO of Ant Financial, says: “We are dedicated to building an open ecosystem with all our partners in China and beyond. We will continue to invest in technology and innovation in order to serve unmet financial needs of people everywhere and to enable them to benefit from the development of the digital economy.”
He adds that the company will invest in developing its blockchain, AI, security, IoT and computing capabilities to upgrade its global technology platform for the next generation.