TravelWallet Wins Backing from Silicon Valley's Lightspeed

Seoul, South Korea - Fintech startup TravelWallet has received undisclosed funding from U.S.-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, marking Lightspeed's inaugural investment in a South Korean company.

Lightspeed, which has $28.2 billion in assets under management as of June 2023 and ranks sixth globally, acquired a 5.2% stake in TravelWallet through a secondary share purchase from existing investors.

The transaction was initiated after Lightspeed observed TravelWallet's cloud-based payment technology, which has garnered attention at global IT conferences. 

Lightspeed initiated contact with TravelWallet, impressed by the team's foreign exchange and payment technology expertise.

TravelWallet CEO Hyungwoo Kim observed that the startup's cloud technology has been gaining more traction in overseas markets than in the domestic market. 

The company plans to leverage Lightspeed's extensive global network to expand its presence in foreign markets.

TravelWallet has received proposals from several major overseas financial institutions for the adoption of its solutions and collaboration. 

The company has established subsidiaries in the United States and Japan, and it expects to make substantial progress in global expansion during the second half of the year.