Ant Group was the startup that raised a $14 billion funding round in 2018, then the largest ever at the time.
The company began with Alipay, Alibaba’s online-payment service, which launched in 2004 to help customers complete e-commerce transactions. Ant was formally spun out and rebranded through the 2014–2015 period as it expanded into mobile payments, money-market funds, consumer lending, insurance, and other financial services.
On June 9, 2018, the company—then widely known as Ant Financial—raised about $14 billion from a group of investors. The round supported international expansion and technology development, and it cemented Ant’s status as one of the world’s most valuable fintech startups.
This question concerns a private funding round, not Ant Group’s proposed stock-market listing. In 2020, Ant planned an IPO intended to raise roughly $34.5 billion at a valuation near $313 billion, but regulators suspended the Shanghai and Hong Kong offerings. Another possible mix-up is Ant’s $4.5 billion financing round in 2015, which was substantial but much smaller.