InVent Lays Cash into Thai Startup Digio

Mobile payments are far from just a North American phenomenon. We’ve already seen staggering developments in Europe, even Africa. Asia is also a hotbed of this new technology, beyond Japan and China. Recent word notes that Digio, a Thai startup, recently landed some significant Series A financing, part of which came from Intouch Holdings venture capital arm InVent.

InVent laid the investment in Digio on the strength of two key points, reports suggest: the combination of “impressive growth and traction,” as noted by Intouch executive vice president for portfolio management and current head of InVent Kim Siritaweechai, makes Digio one of the biggest names in mobile finance in the region.

Digio was also the first financial technology (fintech) companies to catch Intouch’s eye, reports note, though it’s not really the first such effort Intouch has seen in that field. Intouch actually has its own mobile wallet called mPAY, which suggests potential mergers or partnership ahead.

Additionally, Digio represents the 11th company that InVent has put investment in, including a business review portal called Wongnai, the Golfdigg golf course booking program, and the virtual reality advertiser Social Nation.

Not exactly closely related, but potentially intertwined—the notion of virtual reality and mobile payments is something we’ve seen before—InVent’s investment into Digio does seem to at least connect with current operations in the field. In fact, given that the Thai government reportedly has an interest in going to a cashless society, advancement in the mobile payments front is an excellent way to get there.

The problem, of course, is that such a plan depends on the infrastructure being in place and ready to go. Mobile payments need to be as universally accepted as cash is in order to be an actual cash replacement, and that means not only do users need to be ready to accept it, but so too do businesses. With those points in place, then mobile payment systems become, in effect, the new cash, and cash goes by the wayside as no longer necessary, or potentially no longer accepted.

Still, InVent’s new investment into Digio suggests that Digio could be a major force going forward in mobile payments, and with new investment in place, Digio certainly has the resources to augment its current position.