Toss is once again throwing down the gauntlet to target overseas markets. Toss is considering a listing on the U.S. Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), aiming for a valuation of 10 trillion won as it begins sales efforts in global markets.
According to the financial industry on the 23rd, Toss has finished localizing its long-prepared service for the Australian market and will launch a beta service next week. The first offerings will include easy money transfers, a dashboard that aggregates a user's various financial accounts, and Toss's Benefits tab. The Benefits tab is an app-tech (application + personal finance) feature that helped boost Toss, where users receive cash-like points based on steps taken or by solving quizzes.
As Toss is taking its first step into the Australian market, it plans to start selectively with services whose effectiveness has already been verified, approach cautiously with social media (SNS) advertising aimed at younger users instead of large-scale ads, and proceed accordingly. This mirrors the early stage of its domestic app launch: first attract users, verify product-market fit (PMF) effectively, and then gradually add features.
Viva Republica, which operates Toss, established Toss Global in Singapore in May as an intermediate holding company overseeing overseas businesses, followed by the creation of Toss Australia under Toss Global in June. As Chief Executive Lee Seung-gun declared the global market as a mid- to long-term goal at Toss's 10th-anniversary briefing earlier this year, the approach appears cautious and strategic.
This is not Toss's first attempt to expand overseas. The Vietnam subsidiary it ambitiously prepared in 2019 suffered losses exceeding 10 billion won and was liquidated. At the time, Toss entered Vietnam with a pedometer-style rewards service and secured more than 3 million users, but it failed to establish itself as a financial platform. Regulations by the Vietnamese government and the Central Bank blocked the launch of new services, leading to a withdrawal from the market.
Toss chose Australia, rather than Southeast Asia, as its next target because of a financial environment similar to Korea's. Australia's income levels and financial infrastructure are similar to Korea's, it is open to Fintech, and the one-hour time difference is also seen as an advantage.
In particular, there is analysis that Toss's overseas push is with a U.S. stock market listing in mind. Toss considered listing on the domestic stock market, but it is preparing for a U.S. listing because Fintech corporations are evaluated conservatively in Korea's capital markets.
Toss turned its first annual profit on a consolidation basis last year and continued to improve its performance with a net profit of 105.7 billion won in the first half. If overseas revenue is added, it could provide a strong springboard for a U.S. listing. A person in the financial industry said, "As it represents the domestic Fintech industry, there are not a few voices cheering it on," adding, "However, it remains to be seen whether Toss can achieve the valuation of 10 trillion won it is targeting."