Paktor, which has been referred to as Southeast Asia’s Tinder, has just closed its Series A investment round, bringing the total amount raised to over US$5 million in the last 12 months, said the company.
The Series-A investment was led by Vertex Venture Holdings, an investor in GrabTaxi and Reebonz, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. Though not officialy disclosed, the finance raised from Vertex is estimated to be around $3.3 million, making it the largest funding ever received by a Southeast Asian startup in the mobile dating industry.
The funds will be used to expand Paktor’s services into new territories like Malaysia, increase product offerings such as offline events and premium personal services, and to launch a desktop version of the app, said the company.
Paktor, which was launched in 2013, has 1.5 million registered users, making it 20 times larger than the nearest regional competitor. The next market Paktor will officially launch will be Malaysia, which is slated to be in the first quarter of 2015.