Ant Financial Raises $14 Billion in Record Series C Funding Round

Ant Financial, the payments and financial services affiliate of Alibaba Group, closed a $14 billion Series C funding round in June 2018, making it the largest single private fundraise in history at the time. The round valued the company at approximately $150 billion. Ant Financial operates Alipay, one of the world's largest mobile payment platforms, and provides a suite of embedded financial services including lending, insurance, wealth management, and credit scoring.

The massive capital infusion was intended to fuel international expansion and technology development. The round was significant in the broader context of global fintech funding, as China raised $25.5 billion of $55.3 billion in total fintech funding during 2018, with Ant's single round accounting for over half of China's total. The deal underscored the scale advantages of platform-based financial services models and the appetite of investors for embedded finance infrastructure at scale.