Singapore-headquartered digital payments startup, InstaReM, on Thursday announced first close of its Series C funding round of over $20 million (Rs 143.15 crore).

The company's total capital till date has reached to $65 million and the Series C round is expected to close by January 2019.

The funding was led by new investors, MDI Ventures (the VC arm of Indonesia’s Telkom) and Beacon Venture Capital (the VC arm of Thailand’s KASIKORNBANK), as well as existing investors Vertex Ventures, GSR Ventures Rocket Internet and the SBI-FMO Fund. The company is planning to launch new customer and enterprise product in 2019, the release said.

InstaReM will use the funding for further growth and enter new markets like Japan and Indonesia, where the company is expected to receive licenses by the end of this year.

Prajit Nanu, Mumbai-bred co-founder and chief executive officer, InstaReM said, "In less than four years, we have become the payment backbone for emerging markets for banks and other global financial. We are still a young firm, but a hungry one, this new round of funding enables us to accelerate growth by launching new products.”

In 2018, InstaReM partnered with Ripple, an enterprise blockchain network, allowing them to establish new corridors from Brazil to Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal.

The company founded in 2014 by Prajit Nanu and Michael Bermingham, offers international money transfers to individuals and businesses and currently operates in more than 55 countries.

The firm has regulatory licenses and approvals in Singapore, Australia, India, Europe, United States, Hong Kong, Canada and Malaysia.