fastacash™, a Secure Global Social Payments Platform, Announces the Completion of Series A Funding

SINGAPORE and LAS VEGAS, October 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Singapore-based technology company showcases its platform and announces its launch plans for Europe and Asia at Money2020 in Las Vegas

fastacash™, a Singapore-based technology company, today announced the completion of its Series A funding of USD 3 million with investors Jungle Ventures, SPRING SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of SPRING Singapore, and Hong Kong-based Funding the Future (FTF).  Prior to this, the company raised USD 1.5 million in 2012 during the seed round led by Funding the Future (FTF).  fastacash™ will also be showcasing its new global social payments platform today at Money2020, an annual event held in Las Vegas, Nevada for emerging payments and financial services.

According to a recent eMarketer report "Worldwide Social Network Users: 2013 Forecast and Comparative Estimates", there will be 1.73 billion users of social networks in 2013 and by 2017, the global social network audience will total 2.55 billion. Driven by the rise in social media and smartphone usage, the Alternative ePayment* market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% by 2015, according to a WorldPay whitepaper.

Leveraging the increasing adoption of alternative ePayment and marketing methods by companies and consumers, fastacash™ has developed a patent pending link generation technology that allows individuals or companies to transfer value, along with digital content (photos, videos or audio messages), through social networks and messaging platforms, enabling secure and cost-effective transactions domestically and internationally. The transferrable value can be in the form of money, electronic coupons, airtime or other tokens of value. With security at the core of the company, the links generated come with multiple layers of built-in security measures, including limited one-time use, specified expiration date and password protection.  

"We are offering a new way of transferring value with just a secure link. People or companies can now share stories, photos and experiences when sending value. Every action of sharing is accompanied by an emotional sentiment," said Vince Tallent, Chairman and CEO, fastacash™.

He added, "Our solution is adaptable across multiple platforms. We are looking to work closely with our partners from different industries to understand the respective consumer behavior and to offer the best use of the link generation technology, which will lead to an enhanced end consumer experience. Our vision is to create a global network by connecting our partners, where moving value can be simple, secure and done across multiple social networks and messaging platforms."  

As the technology enabler who provides the know-how and expertise, fastacash™ will work with companies, including banks, remittance service providers, mobile operators, social networks, gaming companies and consumer brands, to integrate their solutioninto their partners' existing or new systems.

With the completion of Series A funding, fastacash™ will focus on partnerships and the expansion of its global footprint. "The concept of transferring value through social networks is unique and represents huge market potential given the increasing dominance of social platforms in people's lives. The fastacash™ technology is going to change how people transfer value and we are confident that fastacash™, with its experienced leadership team and innovative technology, is entering the market at the right time and poised for great success," said Amit Anand, Managing Partner, Jungle Ventures, a venture firm focused on supporting startups that showcase strong technology and innovation capabilities across Asia Pacific.

At Money2020, fastacash™ also announced the official launch of its services in the United Kingdom. Partnering with UK-based cross-border remittance service provider VFX Financial PLC, fastacash™ will enable cross-border remittance services from the UK to Kenya under its own brand name. With fastacash™, people in the UK can send money to M-Pesa account holders or any bank account holders in Kenya across social networks in a cost-effective and convenient way.

fastacash™ plans to launch in Indonesia and Russia within the year. It has partnered with Indonesian payment service provider (PSP), Doku, a pioneer in the electronic payments industry offering one-stop Internet payment services. In Russia, its partner is international payments and money transfer system, UNISTREAM.

*Alternative ePayment refers topayment  methods that are used as an alternative to credit card  payments, such as real-time bank transfer, offline credit transfer, direct debits, eWallets, paper-based payments and mobile payments.

About fastacash™

Incorporated in Singapore in 2012, fastacash™ provides a global payments platform which allows users to transfer value (money, airtime, other tokens of value, etc.) along with digital content (photos, videos, audio, messages) through social networks and messaging platforms, enabling secure and cost-effective transactions domestically and internationally. As a technology enabler, fastacash™ partners with companies and brands in the payments, remittance, consumer products, social and gaming industries to bring its technology to end users.

Visit http://www.fastacash.com for more information.

About Jungle Ventures

Jungle Ventures is a Singapore-based, entrepreneur backed venture firm that funds and helps startups scale across Asia Pacific.  

We work hand in hand with entrepreneurs through our advisors and principals who are founders and operating execs and uniquely help founders with the information and resources they need to grow their ideas.

Recent investments include travelmob (acquired by HomeAway, NASDAQ: AWAY), ebus (acquired by IMD Group), Mobikon Technologies, Taggo and Zipdial.

About SPRING SEEDS Capital (SSC)

SPRING SEEDS Capital, an investment arm of SPRING Singapore, co-invests with independent investors into commercially viable Singapore-based start-ups with innovative and strong intellectual content that are scalable across international markets. It currently manages three funds under its portfolio - SPRING Start-up Enterprise Development Scheme (SPRING SEEDS), Business Angel Scheme (BAS) and the Biomedical Sciences Accelerator (BSA).

For more information on our funding programs, please visit http://www.spring.gov.sg.

Media Contact:
Radhika Angara
Chief Marketing Officer    
Email: radhika@fastacash.com
Telephone:  +65-6438-1508