Pine Labs, an Indian fintech firm has bought Fave, a South-East Asian(SEA) Fintech Startup. The deal was finalized with $45 million. Fave is a Malaysia-based fintech startup that helps its clients through QR payments services. It also provides loyalty cashback to the existing customers. Currently, it has a customer base of above 6 million in SEA.
Details about Current Deal and Fave Operations
Founded in 2016, Fave has helped its clients to save more than $400 million across 40000 retailers. The firm mainly provides services to restaurants and retailers. The acquisition will provide Fave app access to Pine Labs from the last quarter of 2021. It will strengthen Pine Lab’s vast network of more than 3700 cities in India.
The current deal will help Fave and spine Labs both to strengthen their operations in Asia. Combined, they will reach more customers in retail, F&B (food and beverage), fashion, and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) markets. Current acquisition will also help Fave to become a known brand in SEA due to the link-up with Pine Labs.
Pine Labs CEO had high praise for the Fave reward, and gift cards system. It will provide an additional advantage to the existing customers of Pine Labs.
Talking about the latest acquisition deal, B. Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs said:
“Consumers have tremendous choices in their payment types. They want to be sure that they save on every transaction. Fave helps consumers apply their best rewards, coupons, gift cards, and cashback on all transactions in a seamless manner.”
As per the agreement, Fave’s founders will lead the consumer platform across Asia. Fave will also hire 100+ new employees in SEA and India to widespread its operations. Cashless payment and smart saving will be the main focus of the Fave team. The firm will also provide more payment options in the future. The fintech firm is planning to make customers’ shopping experience more easy and joyful.
In 2020, Fave collaborated with Singaporean banks named Singtel and DBS to allow its users to join the Fave platform. It helped the company to serve half a million Singaporeans to use the online payment system with the help of Fave.
What Fave and Pine Labs CEO Say about the Current Deal?
Fave CEO talked about a long relationship with Pine Labs and hoped that acquisition will strengthen the relationship further. Talking about the current acquisition deal, Joel Neoh, CEO of Fave, said:
“Excited to work with Amrish (Rau) and the Pine Labs team to continue expanding the Fave platform across the Asia region. Pine Labs has been a great partner and investor for us, and it only made sense for us to join our synergies together and work towards our shared vision of building a truly global consumer and merchant platform.”
Neoh also talked about the digital transformation in India. He further added:
“We are confident that the APAC e-payments landscape will continue to achieve exponential growth in the coming decade. Together, we will be stronger, faster, and better.”
Currently, Fave provides its services in 35 major cities of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. In the coming months, the Fave app will start providing its services in India, as per the acquisition agreement.
The app is expected to have a strong user base in India where Unified Payment Interface(UPI) has already recorded more than 2.7 billion transactions in India in March 2021. Pine Labs also recorded a significant growth of 171 per cent in UPI transactions over the last two quarters.
Before the acquisition, Pine Labs invested in the Fave platform in 2020. The Indian startup also had a partnership with Fave before the current deal.
Rau said:
“Joel (Neoh) and the Fave team have built a loyal consumer base with their smooth checkout experience. We are excited to partner with them in this journey in South East Asia and India.”
In 2019, Pine Labs has also acquired Qwikcilver, a gift card technology startup for $110 million. Pine Labs joined the unicorn club in 2020.
