Ant International targets $10 billion valuation in planned funding round

Ant International has weighed a $1 billion fundraising round at a valuation of at least $10 billion as the Singapore-based fintech unit posts eight straight quarters of profitability and expands its cross-border payments business.

According to Bloomberg, Ant Group’s overseas arm is in early discussions with investors about raising fresh capital to support international growth, with existing backers including General Atlantic and Silver Lake reportedly among those being approached.

The planned financing comes as Ant International continues to build momentum outside mainland China. Bloomberg reported that the unit generated an estimated $3.7 billion in revenue in 2025, up about 25% from a year earlier. Although the business contributes roughly 10% of Ant Group’s overall revenue, its growth has outpaced many of the company’s domestic operations.

Based in Singapore and operating with its own board, Ant International has increasingly become the centerpiece of Ant Group’s overseas strategy. A successful fundraising round could also strengthen expectations of a future standalone public listing in Hong Kong, following the governance restructuring that separated the international division from the parent group’s core operations.

Cross-border payments and blockchain expansion drive growth

At the heart of Ant International’s business is Alipay+, a payment network that links local digital wallets and payment systems across more than 100 markets. The platform connects over 150 million merchants with more than 2 billion consumers, allowing users to make payments through their existing wallets while merchants receive funds through local payment channels.

Beyond consumer payments, Ant International has built several businesses focused on global commerce. Its Antom platform provides merchant acquiring services for international brands, while WorldFirst offers payment and financial tools for small and medium-sized businesses involved in cross-border trade. The company’s Bettr unit provides AI-powered lending and foreign exchange fund management services for smaller merchants.

Running underneath much of that infrastructure is Whale, Ant International’s blockchain platform. Company figures cited in previous reports showed that more than $1 trillion in transactions moved through Ant’s global network during 2024, with about one-third of those flows processed through blockchain rails.

Recent partnerships have also expanded Whale’s role in enterprise treasury operations. In a previous collaboration, Standard Chartered and Ant International completed SGD-denominated liquidity transfers using the platform after earlier Hong Kong dollar settlement trials. Both firms are participants in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Ensemble Sandbox, which explores tokenization use cases for financial markets.

Another step in the company’s blockchain strategy came through its partnership with Circle Internet Group. Ant has integrated USDC into parts of its cross-border payment infrastructure, allowing certain transactions to settle through blockchain-based networks instead of traditional correspondent banking channels.

Regulated stablecoins are also becoming part of the company’s plans. Last year, Ant International confirmed it would seek stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Luxembourg, beginning with an application under Hong Kong’s new stablecoin regime once the framework takes effect.

Speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival, Ant Group chairman Eric Jing said AI technologies and tokenized settlement systems could help make financial services more accessible, underscoring the technologies that now sit at the center of the company’s international growth strategy.