| Native name | 주식회사 비바리퍼블리카 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Fintech |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Lee Seung-gun |
| Headquarters | Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea |
| Area served | South Korea, Vietnam |
| Key people | Lee Seung-gun (CEO) |
| Website | toss |
Viva Republica Inc. (Korean: 주식회사 비바리퍼블리카) is a South Korean technology company active in lending, payment services, financial services and stock brokerage. It is the operator of the financial super-app Toss, which had over 20 million users in South Korea in 2021. With a valuation of $7.4 billion, it was one of the most valuable unicorns in South Korea.
History
Toss was launched in 2014 as a peer-to-peer money transfer platform by the former dentist Lee Seung-gun after eight failed ventures. Over time, more and more new services were offered on the platform, including loans, credit scores and personal investing.
Altos Ventures was the first investor in 2014. Later PayPal, Sequoia China and the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC also invested in the start-up.
In 2018, the company became a unicorn after raising $80 million in a funding round led by Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital.
In 2020, Toss was launched in Vietnam, its first overseas expansion.
In October 2020, Toss launched Toss Bank, a neobank.
In June 2021, Viva Republica raised a further $410 million in a funding. Investors included Alkeon Capital and the Korea Development Bank.
In November 2021, Viva Republica announced the acquisition of a majority stake in VCNC, which operates a ride-hailing service called Tada.
References
- ^ "Viva Republica, developer of Korean financial super app Toss, raises $410M at a $7.4B valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- ^ Kang, John. "Former Dentist Becomes A Billionaire After Funding Round Boosts His Korean Fintech Startup". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- ^ Gilchrist, Karen (2019-09-20). "This dentist built a $2 billion Korean start-up — after 8 failed businesses along the way". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- "Payment service Toss becomes Korea's newest unicorn after raising $80M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- "Korea's 3rd app-based bank Toss Bank kicks off amid loan bottleneck in Korea - Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea". pulsenews.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- "South Korea-based Viva Republica/Toss eyes ride-hailing expansion". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2022-02-03.