The peer-to-peer lending platform has obtained $24m in series B capital from Hakim, which reportedly also provided its series A funding.

The venture capital firm has launched a fund aimed at early-stage startups in China, and has attracted home textile producer Luolai as a limited partner.

The postal service is now the second largest shareholder in Alibaba's financial services and online payment affiliate.

The deal provided an exit to H&R Block and Euronet Worldwide, which each provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Wipit in 2012.

The payment services company launched a European accelerator in May 2014, and is now extending the programme internationally with the help of other corporates.

The online brokerage service, launched in June 2014, has closed a series A round led by smartphone maker Xiaomi.