Thai digital platform MONIX closes pre-IPO round with $20m funding

Thailand’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital lending platform, MONIX Co., LTD., has announced that it successfully secured $20 million in the first close of its pre-initial public offering (IPO) fundraising.

With the addition of $20 million, the company now has an aggregate funding of $40 million.

In a statement, MONIX said that the support that they have been getting is making their company well-positioned to accelerate the growth and expansion of its digital lending and financial product offerings, bolster customer growth and engagement, and innovate its services to enhance financial inclusion for Thai citizens, as well as prepare for an IPO.

The pre-IPO round was led by SCBX and a new investor Lombard Asia, a Southeast Asia’s growth-focused private equity manager.

MONIX said that the outcome of their least funding round was a demonstration of the company’s strong growth in micro-finance lending on the path to IPO in the near future and soon becoming the market leader in Thailand’s digital lending arena.

“We are dedicated to continuously delivering inclusive financial products and services across our platform by advancing the power of unrivaled and cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning technology,” said Qinbin Fan, Chief Executive Officer, and Thiranun Arunwattanakul, Chief Operating Officer of MONIX.

MONIX was established in 2020 as a joint venture fintech startup between SCBX Group and China’s fintech unicorn Abakus Group. Since then, MONIX has been at the forefront of digital unsecured lending solutions for underbanked people in Thailand who are oftentimes overlooked by conventional banks or financial institutions.

With its vision of creating opportunities for people to prosper and enjoy life, MONIX offers humanized, AI-driven FINNIX application to over 36 million Thai people as a means to also help address the country’s informal debt problems.

The company’s application provides instant money in just 5 minutes using alternative data, without having to require paper documents or guarantors.

MONIX has so far recorded $458 million in loan disbursements to over 650,000 users as of 2022, which is a reflection of positive net profits despite the challenging economic situation.

Arak Sutivong, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SCBX, said that their follow-on investment in MONIX is proof of their continued commitment and strong belief in the long-term prospects of the company.

Moving forward, Sutivong said, they will continue to advance their strategy in unleashing hidden value from their investments across the fintech space as they also look forward to many more achievement to come.

Lombard Asia Managing Director Ekaluck Wangchucherdkul describes MONIX as a market leader and a fast-growing business.

MONIX, an international joint-venture fintech startup company between Thailand’s leading financial business group SCBX and China’s fintech unicorn Abakus Group, was founded with the aspirational vision of creating opportunities for people to prosper and enjoy life.

The Bangkok-based company provides “FINNIX,” the cutting-edge financial platform for financial inclusion powered by the unrivaled machine learning and artificial intelligence superpower as it aims to make FINNIX the no.1 financial application in Southeast Asia and become the best financial friend ever.