Ant International secures $1.2B for global payments expansion

Ant International raised about $1.2 billion in a Series A, with participation from Ant Group and Alibaba as it pursues global expansion in merchant payments, account management and other financial services, while integrating AI across its infrastructure. The Singapore-based unit, spun out in 2024, operates four units—Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst and Bettr—across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, serving roughly 150 million merchants and 2 billion user accounts and was valued at about $10 billion prior to the funding.