Vietnam's largest fintech "MoMo" recruits strategic investors at a valuation of more than $2 billion — the substance behind 32 million users and achieved profitability

Vietnam's largest consumer fintech super-app "MoMo" is moving in earnest to secure strategic investors at a valuation of more than $2 billion. The process, using Jefferies and Morgan Stanley, is already underway, and MoMo, with more than 32 million users and profitability achieved in 2024, is one of the most closely watched fundraising deals in Southeast Asia's fintech market.

What kind of company is MoMo?

MoMo is a Vietnam-founded mobile payments platform established in 2010, which has now evolved beyond digital payments into a "fintech super-app" integrating consumer lending, insurance, savings, investment, and merchant management tools. It has more than 32 million users — equivalent to about a third of Vietnam's total population (approximately 98 million).

Its most recent major fundraising was $200 million in 2021 (led by Mizuho Bank). Moves toward an eventual IPO were subsequently reported, but an IPO has recently fallen off the near-term target list, and instead the company is preparing for its next growth phase by bringing in strategic investors. Achieving profitability in 2024 is an important milestone backing this strategic shift.

The explosive growth of Vietnam's digital payments market

Understanding MoMo's fundraising trend requires understanding the market context.

According to Bain & Company's "e-Conomy SEA 2025" report, Vietnam's digital payments market is expected to more than double between 2025 and 2030. As the biggest beneficiary of this growth, MoMo is positioned to significantly boost revenue by cross-selling financial services leveraging its existing user base.

The meaning of profitability — a turning point for Southeast Asian fintech

Achieving profitability in 2024 carries more significance than just an improvement in financial metrics. In the Southeast Asian startup world, after the funding bubble collapse of 2021-2022, investor focus has clearly shifted from "growth rate" to "profitability." Models that pursued scale while tolerating losses have fallen sharply out of favor, and profitability has become the passport to the next funding round.

There are three main factors behind MoMo's ability to achieve profitability in 2024.

• Diversification of fee income establishing multiple revenue sources beyond payment fees, including interest income from lending, insurance sales commissions, and management fees on investment products
• Expansion of the merchant ecosystem merchants accepting MoMo payments have spread nationwide, increasing the platform's comprehensiveness, and users' "reasons to use it" keep growing
• Optimization of the cost structure the shift from a large-scale user acquisition phase to a phase of "providing added value to existing users" has sharply lowered CAC (customer acquisition cost)

Is a $2 billion valuation reasonable? — a comparative analysis

Let's examine whether MoMo's targeted valuation of more than $2 billion is reasonable through a comparison of Southeast Asian fintechs.

Looking at valuation per user, MoMo's target of more than $2 billion works out to roughly $62 per user. Compared with major Southeast Asian fintech players, this could be called conservative, but it is a reasonable level given Vietnam's market growth potential. In particular, if the existing base of 32 million users begins using high-margin products such as loans, insurance, and investments, ARPU (average revenue per user) could rise sharply.

What does MoMo want from strategic investors — MoMo's true aim

The strategic process of hiring two investment banks, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley, suggests an intent that goes beyond simple fundraising. The term "strategic investor" implies a partner with business synergy, not just capital.

The following are conceivable types of strategic investors.

• Global financial institutions Japanese, Korean, and Western banks seeking access to the Vietnamese market, similar to Mizuho Bank's 2021 investment
• Major Southeast Asian tech companies M&A by, or deepened partnership with, companies such as Grab and Gojek
• Payment infrastructure companies a strategic partnership in which a network player such as Visa or Mastercard taps into MoMo's user base

For an overview of Southeast Asia's digital payments ecosystem, a comparative analysis with fundraising trends in India's D2C sector is also useful for reference. The consumer tech sectors of India and Vietnam, two major growth markets, offer complementary perspectives for investors.

Implications for Japanese companies and investors

MoMo's trend carries implications for Japanese companies looking at the Vietnamese market from several angles.

1. Vietnam is in the "just now taking off" phase of going cashless

The phase where the market more than doubles by 2030 is the optimal timing for entry and partnerships. Japanese consumer goods and food brands' expansion in Vietnam via MoMo's merchant network could be a low-cost way to acquire a digital channel.

2. An era where "super-apps" hold purchasing behavior data

Super-apps like MoMo precisely map out users' purchasing behavior through payment data. For Japanese companies selling in Vietnam, leveraging MoMo's marketing data and campaign features is a way to accelerate understanding of local consumers.

3. Synergy between fintech and agriculture/food

MoMo also has agricultural finance expansion into rural areas in view. Microfinance and insurance products for Vietnamese farmers and food distributors are exactly the kind of area MoMo will target next. Japanese companies expanding into Vietnam in the agriculture and food sectors may have more touchpoints with MoMo than they might expect.

Summary: the "next chapter" of Vietnamese fintech begins

MoMo's recruitment of strategic investors at a valuation of more than $2 billion symbolizes the maturation of Vietnam's digital economy. With three conditions in place — 32 million users, profitability achieved, and explosive market growth — the company is preparing to leap to its next stage.

This move differs from an IPO in that it seeks a "partner to raise the value of the business together." Depending on who the strategic investors turn out to be, the direction of MoMo's international expansion, partnerships, and service extensions could change. The developments over the coming months are not to be missed by any company or investor watching the Vietnamese market.

Business trends in emerging Asian markets, including Vietnam and India, are continuously tracked at India Marketing JP as well. Also, seen in comparison with Quick commerce in India 2026 the consumer tech structure of emerging Asian markets comes into sharper relief.