The archive · Money & Fintech · Product decision · 2023–2025
WAIWIN bets travellers will pay Thai QR codes through a local helper network
JamJang-turned-WAIWIN lets tourists pay PromptPay QR codes via 400+ Thai helpers; 3,000+ users from 70 countries, viral reel, US$4.7M Series A opening.
WAIWIN
What the business is
An app that lets foreigners pay Thai PromptPay QR codes: travellers top up via Wise, Revolut, Remitly or PayPal, and a network of 'Thai Trusted Locals' pays vendors, earning a commission.
Starting capital：$300K angel investment; opened a US$4.7M Series A in Aug 2025 (raising, not yet closed).
How it started
After selling his edtech venture, George Lipinski was stranded at a Chiang Mai night market — vendors only accepted PromptPay, which requires a Thai bank account. A local friend offered to scan the vendor's QR and pay, and that workaround became the idea. He co-founded JamJang with Lili Wang, launched in 2024, and rebranded as WAIWIN in October 2024.
What happened
Early field tests in Dec 2024 found slow top-ups and unresponsive support, with fewer than 1,000 App Store downloads (Wochenblitz). In May 2025 a Reddit thread — including a 'JamJang is a scam' post that loyal users rebutted — drove 3,000+ KYC'd users from 57+ countries. Forbes Australia covered the $300K angel round and the opening of a US$4.7M Series A to expand across Southeast Asia.
How it ended up
Still live and raising: opened US$4.7M Series A in Aug 2025 to fund engineering, compliance, and entry into Vietnam, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Background
WAIWIN bets that millions of tourists in QR-first Thailand will pay like locals through a network of Thai helpers, rather than carrying cash or paying ATM fees. The idea came from co-founder George Lipinski's own failure at a Chiang Mai night market, where every vendor took PromptPay — a system tied to Thai bank accounts that foreigners cannot hold.
The model is a marketplace, not a licensed wallet: travellers top up through Wise, Revolut, Remitly, or PayPal, then scan any PromptPay QR. A network of 400+ 'Thai Trusted Locals' accepts the transaction, pays the vendor from their own account, and is reimbursed with a commission. Co-founder Lili Wang describes it as solving a user-experience problem, not just a payments problem.
Early traction came from community trust rather than paid ads: a May 2025 Reddit thread (including an accusation of fraud that users publicly rebutted) produced 3,000+ KYC'd users from 57+ countries, and a viral Instagram reel drew roughly 800,000 views. Forbes Australia covered the story in August 2025, when the company opened a US$4.7M Series A after a $300K angel round.
Independent reporting notes the hard part is ahead: WAIWIN operates as a cross-border intermediary without Thai e-money registration, early builds had support and top-up bugs, and competitors such as TAGTHAi and Moreta Pay entered the same gap in 2024.
What has to be true
- The friction was vivid and universal: tens of millions of annual visitors hit a payments wall that locals do not even see, so the product explained itself in one sentence.
- The trusted-local network bypassed the hardest barrier — Thai e-money licensing — while proving demand before formal compliance existed.
- Community trust did the acquisition a tiny budget could not: Reddit defense and an 800K-view reel scaled signups organically.
- Expansion targets were markets with the same lockout pattern — Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Philippines — where QR systems dominate but foreigners cannot join.
What can be applied
A regulatory wall can be crossed with people before it is crossed with licenses: prove demand with a human-powered workaround, then earn the compliance to automate.
Aftermath
As of Aug 2025, WAIWIN reported 3,000+ users from 70+ countries, hundreds of new signups daily, and a 400+ strong Thai Trusted Locals network. It opened a US$4.7M Series A to expand engineering, deepen regulatory compliance, and enter India, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, and Kenya. Critics note it lacks Thai e-money registration and that refund rights remain unclear for users; the company's bet is that demand will outrun the regulatory catch-up.
Sources
- How being stranded in a Thai night market led to this $4.7 million start-up
- How we KYC over 3000 people from 57 countries thx to Reddit and one toxic post!
- Thailand's cashless gap for foreign visitors
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