3^rd August, 2022

ICMG Partners Co., Ltd.

ICMG Co-Creation Fund I Investment LP

 

We are pleased to announce that ICMG Co-Creation Fund I Investment LP managed by ICMG Partners Co., Ltd. (HQ: Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Gen Funahashi), has invested in TWID PAY GLOBAL PTE. LTD. (HQ: 60 Paya Lebar Road, Singapore; CEO: Amit Koshal), together with co-investors such as Sequoia Capital, Google, Beenext, Rakuten Capital and JAFCO, in the Series A round. TWID is a world’s first rewards point payment network based in India. They have developed their “Pay with Rewards” program which allows users to aggregate their reward points from point issuers and spend them across countless merchants as a form of currency. By making loyalty points available as a means of payment, TWID aims to increase the liquidity of point payments in both online and offline markets.

 

<Left> Co-Founders of TWID (Rishi Raj Batra, Amit Koshal, Amit Sharma)

<Right> CEO of ICMG Partners (Gen Funahashi, 3^rd from the right) and Team

Photos taken at TWID India Office and ICMG Singapore Office respectively

 

A study by Smile.io estimates that the percentage of unused points is reaching 85%, and Bond Brand Loyalty showed that customers who do not use their points are more than twice as likely to leave the brand compared to customers who have used their points in the past year. Awareness and usage of loyalty programs are at low levels and are not contributing to the companies’ intended increase in loyalty.

 

On the other hand, according to Future Market Insights, the current point market in India is US$2.9Bn and is projected to grow to US$10.9Bn by 2031 with a CAGR of 15%. Furthermore, according to PRnewswire and Global New Wire, the US has a market size of　US$35.5Bn in 2022, and Japan has a market size of US$10.2Bn among the global markets, By 2026, the combined market size of the two countries is expected to exceed US$70Bn, indicating a large growth opportunity as a potential market.

 

In light of this situation, TWID has developed an innovative three-sided rewards points network, involving users, point issuers and merchants, that allows consumers to spend their reward points as currency in a wide range of options and merchants. The company’s core solution, Pay with Rewards, allows users to register within the TWID network, and points issued by financial institutions, retailers, F&B, travel agencies, and others are auto fetched/aggregated and converted into currency within the platform. The conversion will be available as a payment option for purchases at participating e-commerce and retail stores. Moreover, the feature to combine credit and debit card　payments with points for product purchases is expected to lead to increased demand for product transactions.

 

In addition to online payment, the solution also supports point payment at offline stores through QR codes, contributing to the improvement and maintenance of customer loyalty through the benefit of being able to use siloed company points for a wide range of applications. The solution can be easily integrated with merchants via API, providing a seamless experience for users, merchants, and point issuers alike.

 

ICMG Group, utilizing its network of top-tier Japanese companies, will support TWID’s business for further expansion of “Pay with Rewards” platform. In addition to the Indian market, ICMG Group is excited to contribute to the revitalization of loyalty programs in Japan and other markets through this innovative fintech solutions over the long term.

 

【About TWID】

The company was founded in Bengaluru in October 2020 by Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra and Amit Sharma. Amit Koshal and Amit Sharma both held leadership positions at Intuit, while Rishi led marquee investments at Bennett, Coleman and Company. The company’s core solution, Pay with Rewards, is India’s first fintech solution that combines user points and payments, and aims to increase the liquidity of loyalty point payments in online and offline markets, and to permeate a community.

URL： https://twidpay.com/

 

 

【About ICMG Group】

ICMG Group has been leading co-creative innovation not only in Japan but also in Southeast Asia and US together with various stakeholders such as leading Japanese big corporations, startups, and government agencies. ICMG Group has also carried out renewable energy investment projects in Southeast Asia with Tokyo Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power Co, formed a strategic partnership in Singapore with UNDP to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and launched the sustainable city initiative project in Japan with Aichi Prefectural Government. ICMG Co-Creation Fund aims to create a sustainable society by providing growth capital and strong partner network of leading Japanese corporations to startups that solve social issues.

URL： https://www.icmg.com.sg/

 

 

【About ICMG Co-Creation Fund】

ICMG Co-Creation Fund was launched in May 2021 and is being managed by ICMG Partners as the General Partner. The Limited Partners are Japan Airport Terminal, which operates Haneda Airport Terminal Building and its group company Haneda Future Research Institute(LP investment from Japan Airport Terminal), and Kiraboshi Bank, which aims to become “a comprehensive service provider with strong financial capabilities”. The fund aims to build an ecosystem that leads a sustainable future by encouraging co-creation between startups that solve social issues beyond industries and Japanese large companies. In addition to providing startups with speedy growth capital, we also aim to provide growth support by offering collaboration opportunities with ICMG Group’s network of Japanese large companies.

 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:

ICMG Partners Co., Ltd.

Public Relations Office

Phone：+81 03-6812-2548

Email：[email protected]