PortOne raised $45 million in a Series B+ round in December 2021, co-led by SoftBank Ventures Asia and Nyca Partners, with participation from B Capital Group and SK Networks. This brought total funding to approximately $120 million across all rounds.

The company raised a bridge round in early 2024 at a lower valuation than the previous round, with founder Daniel Shin and Korea Payment Networks providing the financing. Prior investors include Hanwha Investment & Securities (Series B lead), Line Ventures, and Hashed from earlier stages.

PortOne provides a unified payments API that allows online businesses to connect to all major payment methods and providers through a single integration. Merchants write a few lines of code or use no-code options to enable dozens of payment options at checkout instead of integrating each payment gateway individually.

The platform acts as a payment orchestrator sitting between merchants and Payment Service Providers (PSPs). It routes transactions and information to the appropriate payment gateways without processing payments or holding funds directly. Through PortOne, merchants accept credit cards through multiple local gateways, bank transfers, mobile wallets like KakaoPay or PromptPay, carrier billing, convenience store payments, and global options like PayPal—all through one interface.

PortOne's API supports over 100 payment methods globally. Developers integrate the API once and toggle on new payment methods without additional coding. The platform includes smart routing to optimize transactions across multiple PSPs based on card type, amount, or uptime. A centralized dashboard lets finance teams monitor transactions across all channels with consolidated settlement reports and automated reconciliation that matches payment transactions with payouts from various providers.

The no-code tools allow business users to create hosted payment pages and payment links without developer resources. The PortOne Platform offering serves marketplaces and SaaS platforms that need to onboard sub-merchants and handle split payments, providing white-label dashboards for vendors to track their transactions.

PortOne operates a B2B SaaS model providing cloud-based payment infrastructure to online businesses. The core value creation lies in consolidating payment integrations and operations—merchants access dozens of payment providers through one platform rather than managing separate integrations.

The monetization structure shifted to usage-based pricing in January 2025. Small merchants processing under ₩50 million KRW monthly access all features free while larger merchants pay sliding scale fees proportional to transaction volume. Enterprise clients negotiate custom pricing for advanced features and support. Unlike traditional payment gateways, PortOne charges service fees for software access rather than taking a percentage of payment volume—funds flow directly to underlying PSPs.

As an asset-light fintech SaaS, primary costs include technology infrastructure, maintaining integrations, and customer support. The company avoids costs like liquidity management or credit risk since it doesn't move money directly. Once an integration to a payment method is built, many clients can use it, creating economies of scale with gross margins typical of software businesses at 70-90%.

PortOne's go-to-market combines direct B2B sales, developer relations, and strategic partnerships. The free tier and comprehensive documentation lower barriers for developers while enterprise sales target larger merchants. Partnerships with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, MakeShop, and Cafe24 embed PortOne's solution, potentially reaching 570,000+ online stores through partner platforms. Content marketing positions PortOne as a thought leader for Asian market expansion.

In Korea, Bootpay offers similar payment integration APIs connecting to multiple PGs with unified checkout widgets and analytics. While both launched around the same time targeting startups, PortOne pulled ahead with 3,000+ businesses versus Bootpay's smaller footprint. Payple focuses on simplified payments and subscriptions for SMEs with some overlap in the small business segment.

Single payment gateways like Toss Payments compete indirectly by offering developer-friendly APIs and transparent pricing. Merchants with simple needs might choose Toss as their sole PG rather than paying for orchestration. KakaoPay and Naver Pay provide payment ecosystems but function more as individual methods within PortOne's platform than direct competitors.

International payment orchestration platforms including Primer.io, Spreedly, Primer, Gr4vy, and CellPoint Digital offer similar single-API access to multiple payment providers. These companies target developers wanting neutral orchestration across countries. PortOne differentiates through deep Asian payment method coverage—supporting local e-wallets and payment types that global orchestrators often lack.

The regional specialization gives PortOne an edge when competing for Asian merchants' business. Conversely, expanding outside Asia means encountering established orchestrators on their home turf where they have stronger provider relationships and market knowledge.

Stripe, Adyen, and Checkout.com provide integrated payment processing with their own networks and direct local payment method integrations. These platforms solve similar problems through one integration for multiple payment types globally. The key difference is reliance on a single provider's network versus PortOne's multi-provider flexibility.

In South Korea, limited presence from global processors created an opportunity for PortOne to serve local needs by integrating domestic PGs that international players hadn't prioritized. As these companies expand Asian coverage and PortOne grows internationally, competition will intensify for merchants weighing single-provider simplicity against multi-provider resilience.

PortOne's immediate expansion focuses on Southeast Asian markets where payment fragmentation mirrors Korea's landscape. Merchants in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia need to accept credit cards, mobile wallets like GrabPay and OVO, bank transfer codes, and cash vouchers—creating the same integration complexity PortOne solves.

The Singapore entity positions PortOne for ASEAN market entry, targeting both Asian companies expanding regionally and local merchants in each market. Cross-border e-commerce flows like Korean cosmetics sold to Japan or Southeast Asian merchants selling globally represent growing transaction volumes. The partnership with KG Inicis enabling Korean merchants to accept Japanese payment methods demonstrates this cross-border capability.

PortOne extends its TAM through adjacent payment use cases. The PortOne Platform for marketplaces handles sub-merchant onboarding and split payments, capturing B2B2C scenarios. Automated reconciliation and analytics modules create upsell opportunities beyond basic integration.

Potential expansions include B2B payments and payouts for vendors, subscription billing management for SaaS companies, and fraud detection leveraging transaction data. Each addition expands scope from payment acceptance to comprehensive payment management, increasing average revenue per customer as merchants adopt more modules.

Embedding PortOne into e-commerce platforms multiplies reach without direct sales. The collaboration with MakeShop and Cafe24 potentially exposes PortOne to 570,000+ Korean online stores. Similar partnerships across Asia could dramatically expand merchant adoption.

White-label opportunities with banks or fintech consultants implementing payment systems open access to traditional merchants. Global marketplace platforms needing deeper Asian payment coverage represent another channel—each partnership significantly increases reach with minimal sales effort while positioning PortOne as default infrastructure for online payments across Asia.

Disintermediation risk: Individual payment providers offering easier all-in-one solutions could bypass PortOne's orchestration layer. As single PGs like Toss Payments add more payment methods and improve APIs, merchants with straightforward needs might find one provider sufficient, eliminating the need for orchestration fees.

Integration scalability: Every new country and payment method requires ongoing development and maintenance. As payment providers change APIs or new e-wallets emerge, PortOne must continuously update integrations. Expanding across too many markets could strain engineering resources and impact service quality.

Founder reputation: Legal scrutiny of founder Daniel Shin related to the Terra incident creates reputational challenges for fundraising and enterprise client acquisition. Despite strong operational metrics and the company's efforts to rebrand and distance from past issues, this association may limit access to capital and large enterprise deals.