Singapore-based Coda Payments raises $2.3M from several Japanese firms

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See the original story in Japanese.

In the Southeast Asia region, online payment systems still aren’t as developed as in other parts of the world [1]. To help compensate, Singapore-based Coda Payments provides users with mobile payment solutions in partnership with local mobile carriers in Indonesia and other countries. That company announced today it has secured series A funding worth of $2.3 million from GMO Global Payment Fund, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, CyberAgent Ventures, Singapore-based Gloden Gate Ventures, and Skype co-founder/angel investor Toivo Annus [2].

Golden Gate Ventures and Toivo Annus participated in the company’s $900,000 seed round investments last year.

Coda Payments launched back in 2011 and has been providing payment services in Indonesia since last March in partnership with local mobile operators Axis and Esia. On the content provider side, the company has partnered with game publishers – such as Garena (Singapore), ChangYou (China), Boyaa Interactive (China), and CJ Internet (Korea) – to provide users with payment methods to purchasing virtual items in game via phone bill payments or prepaid airtime.

Regarding this latest funding, Coda Payments CEO Neil Davison noted:

neil-davidson_portraitWe are delighted to have three of Japan’s most prominent technology firms in Coda’s investor group. GMO’s expertise in payments, Rakuten’s in e-commerce, and CyberAgent’s in gaming, in addition to the fact that all three are actively investing across Southeast Asia, ideally position them to help accelerate Coda’s growth.

The company will use these new funds to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia. In the Southeast Asian region where internet and mobile payments are limited in accessibility, many startups are fiercely competing to provide alternative options. To learn more about this space, check out Tech in Asia’s 10 startups that can beat PayPal in Southeast Asia.


  1. This is one reason why a system like Candy is being introduced in the region.
  2. Disclosure: Jeffrey Paine, one of the co-founding partners of Golden Gate Ventures, is our advisor.