FinTech start-up Pace Enterprise announced its launch on Jan 19 with a BNPL solution, headed by veteran entrepreneur Turochas “T” Fuad, previously of Travelmob and Spacemob.
Headquartered in Singapore, the company raised a “high seven-figure” seed round co-led by Vertex Ventures, a Temasek subsidiary, and Indonesia’s Alpha JWC.
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Fuad was last at WeWork, where he served as managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea for close to three years before his departure last June. He had joined WeWork after Spacemob — the Singapore-based coworking start-up he founded — was acquired in 2017 for an undisclosed sum.
With spending limits calculated by an algorithm, Pace allows its users to make payments over three instalments.
A company representative tells The Edge Singapore that Pace has signed on more than 500 merchant partners since rolling out its service last November. Notable brands include Superdry, La Senza, Rebecca Minkoff, Strip, Browhaus, Sincere Watches, Reebonz and Paris Miki.
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In addition, Pace says it has signed an exclusive partnership with digital marketplace Carousell, enabling select Carousell merchants to offer Pace’s payment option to their customers.
“The reason we launched Pace — and our long-term goal — is to create a broader and more inclusive digital FinTech platform that empowers underserved populations,” says founder and Pace CEO Fuad.
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“To achieve this, BNPL is the right first step that flexibly and seamlessly extends customers’ buying limits while giving merchants access to financing alternatives and entirely new customer segments,” he adds.
“Vertex Ventures SEA was an early investor in Spacemob. We have been impressed with T at Spacemob and are happy to back him again in this new venture,” says Kee Lock Chua, who is the managing partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India.
Outside of Singapore, Pace is also available to users in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. The company aims to reach 5,000 merchant partners by end-2021 through its expansion into North Asia and the rest of Southeast Asia.
