Pine Labs acquisition to put Fave in India market
Mobile payment and e-commerce app Fave has been acquired by Pine Labs for $45 million, which will put the former in the hands of Indian consumers by year-end. The merger is touted to help drive both companies' expansion across Asia and markets such as retail, fashion, and food and beverage.
The deal also would see Fave's founders take on roles to lead the platform's growth in the region, the companies said in a joint statement Tuesday. In addition, Fave would make more than 100 new hires in Southeast Asia and India, as it planned to introduce new payment features on its platforms, it said.
The payment company, which acquired Groupon in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia in 2016 and 2017, currently operates in 35 cities across the three Asian markets.
With the Pine Labs acquisition, the Fave app would make its debut in India by end-2021, supporting a local network of 500,000 merchant points across 3,700 cities.
According to Pine Labs, more than 100 million retails customers tapped its platforms to process more than 550 million transactions a year. Its merchant network included fashion, pharmacy, and airlines, and its platforms were supported by 15 major banks as well as seven financial services institutions. Its unified payment interface transactions climbed 171% in the last two quarters.
Fave's co-founder and CEO Neoh said: "India has the digital advantage with young demography, growing aspirational middle class with rising disposable income, and increasing digital savviness. We are confident that the Asia-Pacific e-payments landscape will continue to achieve exponential growth in the coming decade."
Pointing to Fave's platform offerings that included gift cards, cashbacks, and coupons, Pine Labs CEO B. Amrish Rau added: "Consumers have tremendous choices in their payment types. They want to be sure that they save on every transaction. Joel 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 Southeast Asia and India."
Incorporated in Singapore, Pine Labs is backed by investors that included Temasek Holdings, Sequoia Capital, PayPal, Actis Capital, and Mastercard.
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