Asia

November 19, 2021 @ 5:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nudge Inc., a “next-gen” credit-card provider and a future challenger bank based in Japan, announced that it has expanded its Pre-Series-A round with additional capital from Insignia Ventures Partners and the Sony Innovation Fund. The firm’s investment round has reportedly been led by Spiral Capital… Read More

November 18, 2021 @ 10:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia-based digital wallet OVO is teaming up with financial marketplace Bareksa and Bahana TCW Investment Management in order to introduce a fixed-income product. The Bahana MES Syariah Fund Kelas O is reportedly being offered only via the OVO app as part of the digital wallet’s… Read More

November 17, 2021 @ 10:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Airwallex has raised an additional $100 million at a $5.5 billion valuation, according to a note from the company. The funding was an “E1” round and part of a wider $300 million Series E raise. Airwallex says the Series E1 round was oversubscribed, on the… Read More

November 17, 2021 @ 8:12 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Pine Labs, a merchant commerce platform serving merchants in India and Southeast Asia, today announced a partnership with Standard Chartered Malaysia. Standard Chartered’s customers in Malaysia can now access interest-free installment options on credit cards at any offline point-of-sale system powered by Pine Labs. The… Read More

November 17, 2021 @ 8:09 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Plenty, a DeFi protocol on the Tezos blockchain, along with Tezos India, is organizing a two-month hackathon designed to produce solutions to several Plenty use cases. The application period for the Plenty Global Hackathon 1.0, can be submitted beginning Nov. 20. Possible use cases include… Read More

November 17, 2021 @ 2:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The VeChain Foundation notes that after many months of hard work and dedicated effort, the arrival of Block #10653500 on the VeChainThor mainnet “officially marks the upgrade to PoA 2.0 phase 1 and the first steps towards the full-form of [their] protocol upgrade.” As they… Read More

November 16, 2021 @ 4:14 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Southeast Asian “super-app” Grab is working to restore service today, the company said. Customers across Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia have reported trouble using the super-app, with some voicing their frustrations on social media. “We experienced a service disruption this morning that impacted a number… Read More

November 15, 2021 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Bank Indonesia (the Central Bank of the Republic of Indonesia) have reportedly entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to expand mutual co-operation. The bilateral MoU will be including three key areas, focusing on digital innovation… Read More

November 15, 2021 @ 10:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

PT Moduit Digital Indonesian has received USD $4.5 million, or IDR 65 billion in a pre-Series A Round, according to a company release. The investment was led by Singapore’s Reciprocus Moduit Holding (RMH). The company said the funding was fueled by its strong performance in… Read More

November 15, 2021 @ 10:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sarwa has confirmed the launch of Sarwa Trade, which is a zero-commission, zero-transfer-fee trading platform. Sarwa customers are able to trade stocks and exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) via an intuitive mobile app — with no commissions, no international transfer fees “from local AED accounts, and no minimum… Read More

November 15, 2021 @ 5:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sparrow, a crypto-assets trading platform with head offices in Singapore, recently acquired $4.4 million in capital via a Series A round that was led by Gain Loyal Pte Ltd. As mentioned in the announcement, Gain Loyal Pte Ltd is an established investment firm that focuses… Read More

November 15, 2021 @ 8:26 am By JD Alois  |  

Flat6Labs has funded 6 startups with seed capital following the participation in a 4-month acceleration program. Each startup completed the 7th Cycle in Bahrain. Flat6Labs is a MENA-based seed and early-stage venture capital firm. Annually, Flat6Labs invests in more than 100 innovative and technology-driven startups…. Read More

November 14, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Asia’s financial tech platform Qupital announced earlier this week that it acquired $150 million in a combination of Series B equity funding and “a receivables-backed securitization facility.” The equity funding will aim to support Qupital’s goal to scale its cross-border digital commerce lending business into… Read More

November 14, 2021 @ 8:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) will reportedly be taking part in Project Nexus by working cooperatively with various partners on a proof-of-concept (PoC) to enhance the cost and speed of performing international payments. Project Nexus will aim to look into the… Read More

November 14, 2021 @ 8:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bahrain-based digital asset trading platform CoinMENA has acquired $9.5 million via a seed round. @CoinMENA Raises $9.5M Seed Fund #CoinMENA #Blockchain #Cryptocurrency #Crypto #DeFi https://t.co/vVH1vVj6ED pic.twitter.com/V05Ii2CabS — Head of DeFi @Spectrum Search – Blockchain Bully (@JobsBlockhain) November 12, 2021 As mentioned in the announcement, this… Read More

November 14, 2021 @ 7:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Lista, a bookkeeping app for small businesses operating in the Philippines, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding via an oversubscribed round that included contributions from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, and various angel investors. The angel investors reportedly include ex- Grab… Read More

November 13, 2021 @ 7:15 pm By Xu Gao  |  

People’s Bank of China Launches New Support Policy for Carbon Reduction  On November 8th, the People’s Bank of China launched a new policy tool to support efforts of carbon reduction in China. The PBC will use this monetary policy instrument to provide low-cost funding for… Read More

November 12, 2021 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an action against Terraform Labs PTE, Ltd., and its co-founder and CEO, Do Kwon. The SEC said in a statement that it is seeking an order directing the company to comply with investigative subpoenas for documents and testimony…. Read More

November 11, 2021 @ 11:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Singapore and Abu Dhabi (UAE), have completed a pilot of a “world’s first” cross-border digital trade financing pilot. The pilot was completed in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA),  the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu… Read More

November 11, 2021 @ 7:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Scila AB, the Stockholm-headquartered independent provider of trade surveillance, anti-money laundering and risk management tech, has established a new regional office in Singapore “covering the Asia-Pacific region.” As mentioned in a release, Scila has worked cooperatively with clients in the APAC region since 2009, and… Read More