Leading growth investors acquire minority stake in Coda Payments, the world's leading independent content monetization platform

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Apr 14, 2022, 22:23 ET

Smash Capital, Insight Partners, and GIC invest $690 million in the cross-border monetization provider as brand expands into more territories

SINGAPORE, April 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Today, Coda Payments ("Coda"), the world's leading independent platform for digital content monetization, announced that a consortium of top-tier growth investors has acquired a minority stake in the company.

Smash Capital, New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, and Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund GIC invested US$690 million to partner with the company during a period of rapid international expansion. Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP ("Apis Partners"), and the company's other existing shareholders retain equity positions in Coda moving forward.

"This investment marks a significant milestone for Coda as we seek to offer content publishers and consumers more monetization options," said Neil Davidson, Executive Chairman and Co-founder, Coda Payments. "We have spent more than 10 years building the world's leading independent platform for digital content monetization and are thrilled to welcome Smash Capital, Insight Partners, and GIC as partners as the company embarks on its second decade of growth."

Codashop, a trusted source of in-game currencies and other premium content for millions of consumers in more than 50 territories worldwide, is the only independent content marketplace with a global footprint. Through Codashop, developers and publishers make it easier for their customers to access the content they love by allowing them to choose from more than 300 convenient payment methods. Coda also operates Codapay, which publishers use to accept the same range of payment methods available on Codashop on their own websites, and Codacash.

"We at Smash believe that the way people experience the internet will increasingly resemble video games. Coda empowers the world to consume these immersive experiences," said Evan Richter, Founding Partner at Smash Capital. "The Smash team and I are humbled to have the opportunity to partner with Coda as it becomes a truly generational brand in gaming and beyond."

"Accepting payments for mobile games and digital entertainment in emerging markets across the globe is incredibly complex given the number of payment methods that exist, each of which requires time and resources to integrate. Coda is the industry leader in simplifying this monetization process, along with helping consumers access and enjoy great content," said AJ Malhotra, Managing Director at Insight Partners. "We are excited to partner with the Coda team as they continue to expand and Scale Up."

Matteo Stefanel, Apis Partners Co-founder and Managing Partner, commented: "Our partnership with Neil and Coda's management team continues to be a truly great one. We are thrilled to see Coda Payments' exceptional growth and continued success recognised by Smash, Insight and GIC with their investment into the company." Udayan Goyal, Apis Partners Co-founder and Managing Partner, continued: "We are confident that the addition of Smash, Insight and GIC to the Coda family will lead to huge strides in the company's growth and we look forward to sharing our sector-specific expertise as they start this new journey."

Publishers and developers work with Coda to generate new revenues, reduce their monetization costs, and reach new paying audiences. Backed by a secure and reliable payments infrastructure and offering a seamless user experience, Codashop allows customers to select from a wide range of popular payment methods and enjoy exclusive deals.

For publishers, Coda also acts as a trusted go-to-market partner, ensuring compliance with local regulations and tax requirements, providing market insights, offering tailored marketing support, and providing 24/7 customer care.

To learn more about Coda, visit codapayments.com.

About Coda Payments

Coda Payments operates Codashop, the leading independent source for games and in-game currencies. Coda also offers Codapay, which allows publishers of digital content to accept the same range of 300+ payment methods available on Codashop on their own websites, and xShop, which allows publishers to distribute their products through a range of e-commerce and other consumer-facing platforms.

The Coda vision is to be the platform of choice for taking life's digital experiences over the top.

About Smash Capital

Smash Capital is a later-stage investor, providing its companies with unfair advantage in brand and media. The firm is led by Eric Garland, Kevin Mayer, Evan Richter, Tom Staggs and Brad Twohig. Investments include: Epic Games, Sondermind, DuckDuckGo, among others.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of February 24, 2022, the closing of the firm's recent fundraise, Fund XII, brings Insight Partners regulatory assets under management to over $90B. Insight Partners has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Insight Partners meets great software leaders where they are in their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

GIC

GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore's financial future. As the manager of Singapore's foreign reserves, GIC takes a long-term, disciplined approach to investing, and are uniquely positioned across a wide range of asset classes and active strategies globally. These include equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, venture capital, and infrastructure. Its long-term approach, multi-asset capabilities, and global connectivity enable GIC to be an investor of choice. GIC seeks to add meaningful value to our investments. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC has a global talent force of over 1,800 people in 10 key financial cities and have investments in over 40 countries. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg or LinkedIn.

About Apis Partners

The Apis Group ("Apis") is an ESGI-native global private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses around the world by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of approximately 30 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of over US$1.2 billion.

Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in seven countries across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis' approach and investment mandate. Apis became a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) upon inception of the firm in 2014. www.apis.pe

SOURCE Coda Payments