Masan buys stake in Singaporean software firm

By Phuong Dong February 10, 2023 | 12:57 am PT

Masan Group CEO Danny Le receives certificate of offshore investment registration from Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung on February 10, 2023. Photo courtesy of Masan

The Masan Group, through its subsidiary The Sherpa, will spend US$105 million to take a 25% stake in Singaporean software developer Trust IQ.

The certificate of offshore investment registration was given to Masan on Friday by the Ministry of Planning and Investment within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Singapore.

Masan said investing in Trust IQ, which operates in the fields of software development, technology and applications, will help the conglomerate accelerate the application of artificial intelligence in retail and consumption.

This is part of its strategy to create a consumer, retail and technology ecosystem capable of meeting 80% of the essential needs of the Vietnamese people.

Trust IQ, backed by investment funds such as Sequoia Capital, Beenext, Tanglin Ventures, 500 Startups and Genesis Alternative Ventures, is the parent company of Trusting Social, a fintech business operating in Vietnam and known for its credit scoring tool which assesses the financial capacity of borrowers.

In mid-2022, Masan invested $65 million in Trusting Social to take 25.1% stakes in the company.