Waffo Group Limited (“Waffo”), a unified global payments and monetization platform, announced the completion of US$30 million in total funding. The latest Series A round closed at over US$15 million and was co-led by London-based fintech investment firm Illuminate Financial and existing investor Gaorong Capital, with participation from HSBC and BAI Capital.
Solving cross-border payment fragmentation
As digital businesses expand globally, they face fragmented local payment methods, regulatory complexity, and inconsistent checkout and subscription experiences across markets. These challenges are particularly pronounced for gaming, AI, SaaS, and digital-product companies, where scalable monetization and reliable payment infrastructure are essential.
Waffo solves this with a modern, scalable payments and monetization infrastructure — a global payment gateway with fast access to local methods, smart routing that recommends the optimal payment path, a subscription management platform covering recurring, one-time, and invoice payments, unified multi-currency settlement, and a compliance and risk framework spanning KYC, AML, and PCI DSS.
Institutional expertise behind the round
Illuminate Financial is a London-based investment firm focused on fintech and financial infrastructure, with strategic backers including BNY Mellon, Euroclear, J.P. Morgan, S&P Global, Jefferies, Deutsche Börse Group, Barclays, Citi, SGX, and HSBC. Beyond capital, these institutions bring industry expertise, strategic insight, and access to a global partner network.
Flagship customers across gaming, AI, and finance
Waffo already powers global payments and monetization for leading gaming studios and AI companies — including large-model applications, creator tools, AI video platforms, and conversational assistants — helping them lift conversion and retention across North America, East and Southeast Asia, and Latin America. In financial services, Waffo provides global acquiring and local payment capabilities to institutions including LianLian Global and HSBC.
“In this wave of AI-driven globalization, payment infrastructure that supports flexible pricing and efficient cash flow is critical,” said Hu Shuo, Partner at Gaorong Capital. “Waffo's technology-driven localized payment solutions help AI, gaming, and entertainment companies internationalize efficiently — and we believe Waffo will keep supporting digital-native businesses toward faster, steadier global commercialization.”