At $150 Bn valuation Ant Financial raises $10Bn, becomes world highest valued startup

Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has closed its latest funding round having raised $10 billion from a clutch of global and local investors.

According to a Reuters report, the latest funding at $150 billion valuation will make the Ant Financial the world’s highest-valued private tech company, surpassing Uber which is valued around $70 billion.

However, Ant Financial is yet to make any official announcement on the deal.

The Hangzhou-based firm valuation witnessed a 2.5X jump when it had raised $4.5 billion in April 2016 what was the world's largest single private funding round for an Internet company. During the last round, the operator of China's biggest payment platform was valued at $60 billion.

Citing sources, the report further added that Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC, Temasek Holdings, private equity firm Warburg Pincus have participated in the massive funding round. It also added that Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional, private equity firm Carlyle Group and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital have joined the investment round.

Also Read: After BigBasket, Zomato gobbles $200 Mn round from Alibaba affiliate Alipay

After hiving off Ant Financial from Alibaba in 2011, it has diversified over the years into credit services, asset management, and online banking, besides owning the Alipay payment platform.

The company has also invested in a number of Internet-based startups including bike-sharing company Ofo, food delivery app operator Ele.me, Didi Chuxing, and several others in China.

In India, Ant Financial has invested in payment major Paytm, foodtech Unicorn Zomato, online grocer Bigbasket.