Singapore-based fintech startup Pace has snagged$40 million in Series A funding, pulling in investors such as Japan's Marubeni Ventures and South Korea's Atinum Partners. The buy now, pay later (BNPL) player will tap the funds to expand its operations, technology, and business development. 

These efforts would look to drive its target of hitting$1 billion in gross merchandise value by end-2022 as well as grow its user base 25-times over the next year, said Pace in a statement Monday.

it also was eyeing expansion into Japan, South Kore, and Taiwan. Apart from Singapore, it currently also operates in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Pace's BNPL offering lets consumers split their purchases in three interest-free payments, over 60 days. 

It is available in more than 3,000 points-of-sales across the four Asian markets, where overall sales climbed 25%, according to the startup, which launched earlier this year. 

Pace's Series A round also saw participants from Singapore's UOB Venture Management and Taiwan's AppWorks as well as previous investors such as Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, Alpha JWC, and Genesis Alternative Ventures.

Pace's founder and CEO Turochas 'T' Fuad said the region was poised to be the fastest-growing BNPL market and his startup hoped to "democratise" financial services for all consumers. 

Mobile wallets and BNPL in Southeast Asia are projected to clock growth rates of between 30% and 58% through to 2025, revealed an IDC study commissioned by payments platform 2C2P. In addition, digital payments will account for 91% of the region's overall e-commerce spending by 2025, compared to 80% in 2020. 

Markets such as Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, in particular, will see significant declines in the use of cash with spikes in digital payments by 2025, the report noted.

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