From US$5,000 to a 900-Million Merger: TapPay’s Angel-Investing Lesson

Personally, I consider this a classic Taiwanese angel-investing case. 500 Startups launched Taiwan’s first student VC fund, 500 Rookies, in October 2015. On the seventh, it announced a US$5,000 investment in voiceprint-encryption payment tool TapPay. Six students trained for nearly a year made the investment, the first deal led entirely by student investors. PChome subsidiary 21st Century announced plans to merge with Cherri Tech through a share swap—issuing 4.16 million common shares—and a strategic investment of NT$940 million. It aims to use Cherri Tech’s payment-services strengths to expand third-party payments, mobile payments, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and other fintech services. Founded in 2015, Cherri Tech is best known for its TapPay payment gateway. Its pioneering Cross-site no-redirect technology makes online transactions faster and safer and helps prevent fraudulent card use. In 2017, it received the first Apple and Google payment-processing licenses issued in Taiwan. In 2018, it became the exclusive Asia-Pacific security-token partner of Visa and Mastercard. KPMG also selected it among the world’s top hundred fintech companies. It now has over 10,000 customers and handled gross payment volume above NT$50 billion in 2021. Services cover Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian markets. The shift toward cashless transactions is expected to support further revenue growth. With nearly two million service users, 21st Century targets fintech investment. It says Cherri Tech will continue operating and improving its existing businesses after completion, without affecting customer rights. Cofounders Zhuang Fanjie and Liao Zonglun will retain their roles and use group resources to accelerate international development.