Overview
- Ant International said it completed a roughly $1.2 billion Series A that included participation from Ant Group and Alibaba alongside unnamed international institutional investors.
- The company said the funds will accelerate expansion of its merchant payments, account-management and inclusive finance products and increase investment in artificial intelligence for merchant tools.
- Ant International was spun out of Ant Group and has operated independently since 2024 after a broader reorganization that followed the suspension of Ant Group’s planned 2020 IPO.
- The firm operates units including Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst and Bettr and says its network links about 150 million merchants to more than 2 billion user accounts across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
- Analysts and company reporting say the raise could speed wider use of blockchain settlement and regulated stablecoins for cross-border transfers, which may lower costs and shorten settlement times for businesses that move money across markets.