Asia

December 12, 2015 @ 4:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

A recent report published by Future Asia Ventures highlights the growing commitment from established corporations in funding startup accelerator programs to foster a culture of innovation.  According to the report, in 2015 31 new corporate accelerators were launched bringing the worldwide total to 85.  Interestingly… Read More

December 12, 2015 @ 11:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Internet juggernaut Alibaba opened their wallet a tiny bit and purchased the assets of the South China Morning Post (SCMP) last week. The company stated it was a strategic move in recognition of providing insight into one of the world’s largest economies. One of the… Read More

December 10, 2015 @ 8:21 am By JD Alois  |  

In a sign of a more vigilant approach by Chinese authorities regarding questionable peer to peer lending platforms, Ezubo (Ezubao) saw 1.1 billion yuan frozen by the government  and the Chairman, Din Ning along with other top executives were said to be in police custody according… Read More

December 9, 2015 @ 7:30 am By Spencer Li  |  

On November 16, 2015, Yirendai, an “online” Chinese marketplace lending platform, filed its Form F-1  (Form F-1 /A) with the SEC for an IPO listing on the NYSE. Yirendai is a subsidiary of CreditEase, a sizeable financial services firm in China that provides lending and wealth… Read More

December 8, 2015 @ 12:35 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

First State Super will invest tens of millions of dollars into fintech start-ups over the coming years, in partnership with H2 Ventures, a specialist fintech VC fund, according to the Sydney Morning Herald‘s James Eyers.  The launch of the First State Super-H2 partnership was attended by Prime… Read More

December 7, 2015 @ 7:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform CoAssets is highlighting platform growth. According to a report from the Singapore-based company, registered users now exceed 30,000 having grown 30% in November alone.  Founded in May of 2013, initially 100% of users were from Singapore. Today that percentage has dropped… Read More

December 7, 2015 @ 7:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Fellow Finance, a peer to peer lender based in Helsinki, has formed a strategic partnership with Crowdcredit, based in Toyko, in an arrangement where Crowdcredit which create investment funds to invest in loans from Finnish borrowers.  The agreement is designed to drive value for both… Read More

December 4, 2015 @ 3:26 am By Spencer Li  |  

Following in the footsteps of Chinese internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com, leading Chinese P2P platforms have begun evolving into one-stop wealth management platforms. Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Tencent’s WeBank, and JD.com’s JD Finance (for some background on these platforms, please refer to a… Read More

December 2, 2015 @ 1:49 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten (TOKYO:4755) officially initiated a new $100 million fintech investment fund, according to a release.  The Rakuten FinTech Fund, a new US$100 million global investment fund focuses on investments in disruptive early to mid-stage fintech startups aims to offer attractive return potential with strategic relevance…. Read More

December 2, 2015 @ 8:06 am By Umar Munshi  |  

Islamic Crowdfunding has the potential to help us change our world for the better. When an online community unites and pools resources, this community has the financial and social clout and capability to create and re-create multiple aspects of the world and directly impact society…. Read More

November 26, 2015 @ 10:26 am By JD Alois  |  

Chinese officials announced last year they were slashing executive pay at banks.  This was part of a push to reform the banking system by limiting waste and stifling corruption.  According to a report in Time Weekly, banking executives have a salary cap of just 600,000… Read More

November 25, 2015 @ 8:34 am By JD Alois  |  

Backer-Founder, a consulting firm in Taiwan that stakes claim to being the first of its kind in the country, celebrated its one  year anniversary of helping crowdfunding campaigns achieve their goals.  According to the company, the crowdfunding consultancy has managed over 50 projects in the… Read More

November 24, 2015 @ 10:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dianrong, a leading peer to peer lending platform in China, raised a respectable $207 million a couple months back.  Now the online lender is considering its next funding round which may hit half a billion dollars as the Chinese P2P market continues to outpace traditional… Read More

November 23, 2015 @ 8:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Kapital Boost has won the Social Enterprise Startup of the Year award during the inaugural ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Singapore-based Kapital Boost is the first Islamic peer-to-business (P2B) crowdfunding platform in Asia. Launched in July 2015, Kapital Boost has… Read More

November 19, 2015 @ 11:19 pm By Spencer Li  |  

When the State Council of China issued its guidelines for the internet finance industry in July, the single most talked about guideline among platform operators is the government’s encouragement of banks to provide custodian services for investor funds used for platform transactions. Many have interpreted… Read More

November 18, 2015 @ 2:15 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

China’s Internet search giant Baidu will partner with China Citic Bank, part of state-owned conglomerate Citic Group, to launch an online bank, according to the Financial Times. The FT notes that Citic Bank, suspended its shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong on Monday pending announcement… Read More

November 17, 2015 @ 10:32 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  A co-founder of Funding Societies in his 20s, Reynold Wijaya is now the peer-to-peer lending company’s chief operations (Singapore) leader, and has helped bring the company’s funding to near $1.25 million. Funding Societies was among the first homegrown P2P lending companies to bring in a trustee registered with the… Read More

November 17, 2015 @ 9:26 am By JD Alois  |  

CrowdPlus.Asia is the first, of the approved platforms, to launch in Malaysia – and across multiple Asian markets. CrowdPlus.asia will focus on the ASEAN market, having established a presence in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as mainland China and Hong Kong where there is a number… Read More

November 16, 2015 @ 10:49 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Founded in May 2014, the Philippine-based fintech startup  Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI) initiated Boom Cash, an SMS-based wallet that allows a person to send and receive money digitally without an Internet connectivity. SCI co-founder and CEO John Bailon told Deal Street Asia that Boom Cash is the product of an internal hackathon,… Read More

November 13, 2015 @ 12:26 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Real estate crowdfunding company, CoAssets Pte Ltd, (“CoAssets ” or the “Company ”) (NSX code: CAX), announced this week it received principle support from the government of East Java, for its upcoming EPIC event to be held in Surabaya, Indonesia. The government run East Java… Read More