Lydia, a Paris-based fintech super app, said it raised $44.7 million (40 million euros) in Series B funding, led by Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent, to scale its mobile payments platform and expand across Europe. 

Lydia, which has 3 million customers in France, offers a range of financial services through its mobile app, including payments, insurance, savings, loans and gift cards. 

Cyril Chiche, co-founder and CEO at Lydia, said that 25% of 18-30-year-olds in France have an account with Lydia, and so far the company has managed to grow with very little outside investment. 

"With the new funding round and partner like Tencent, who will help us save a lot of time and avoid costly mistakes in this scaling up phase, we have all the reasons to be ambitious," Chiche said in a company release. "We are now in a position to challenge the traditional retail banking distribution model with a mobile platform similar to what we see in sectors like retail, music or travel."

Prior investors, including Open CNP by CNP Assurances, XAnge and New Alpha, participated in the new funding round. The company, launched in 2013, has raised more than $67 million (60 million euros) to date. 

Cover image: Lydia 

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