Asia

March 30, 2015 @ 9:24 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In February Cloud Lending Solutions announced that its customer and partner,  LendingPoint, had successfully used Cloud Lending as a foundation to go from concept to market in less than ninety days.  Helmed by CEO and Founder Snehal Fulzele and CTO Darpan Saini,  Cloud Lending has quickly disrupted global direct online lending as more and… Read More

March 27, 2015 @ 11:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Speaking on a panel discussion at the Boao Forum in southern China, the CEO of Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange (commonly referred to as Lufax), Gregory Gibb, addressed the pressing issue of fraud. The peer to peer lending industry in China has experienced supercharged growth over the… Read More

March 26, 2015 @ 11:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding Asia will be visiting Jakarta, Indonesia next month delivering its message of the power and potential of crowdfunding to boost economies and create new jobs. Crowdfunding Asia held its first, very successful, conference in Singapore in August of 2014.  Several hundred finance professionals, investors,… Read More

March 26, 2015 @ 6:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Data published by the China Banking Association indicates a “surge” in internet banking.  According to a report in ECNS, individuals using online banking services has hit 909 million – an increase of 150 million compared to the year prior. Financial transactions totaled an astounding 60.85… Read More

March 19, 2015 @ 8:44 am By JD Alois  |  

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) is preparing to tighten the regulatory environment for the fast growing peer to peer lending industry. According to multiple reports, rules have been drafted and are being distributed for review by various industry experts and platform operators. An internal… Read More

March 16, 2015 @ 10:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Alibaba, the Chinese internet conglomerate, has formed another strategic alliance to provide loans to businesses. Earlier this month Alibaba inked an agreement with Lending Club to facilitate loans to US businesses seeking to purchase goods from China manufacturers. Now Alibaba has created a similar arrangement with… Read More

March 12, 2015 @ 12:14 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Luxury wine brand Yao Family Wines, founded and owned (25%)  by  retired Houston Rockets basketball star and  humanitarian Yao Ming, has raised over $2,020,000  toward its  $3 million crowdfunding goal on Crowdfunder.  Pre-money valued at $15M, Yao Family Wines develops, produces, markets and sells Napa Valley wine brands in… Read More

March 11, 2015 @ 1:45 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

SAIF Partners in China and in India, a leading Asian private equity firm managing over US$3.5 billion, is expecting to invest a minimum of $70-$100 million in 10-15 companies this year, across the mobile, e-commerce and financial services sectors, according to a story on Live Mint. In the… Read More

March 10, 2015 @ 2:38 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

Whether you have an eye–or a nose–for good design, Sniffr, a new crowdfunding platform for Singapore designers, has just soft-launched, according to Channel NewsAsia. Founded by Otto Solutions, the platform offers aspiring designers a launch pad to share and showcase their designs, as well as solicit funding… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 11:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The National Development Council (NDC) of Taiwan is pushing forward with investment crowdfunding. According to a report in the Taipei Times, crowdfunding platforms will allow investors to purchase stakes in startups and small companies as soon as May of this year. “Startups are the fruits… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 11:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Online finance has been booming in China.  Today the country claims to be the largest market in the world for peer to peer lending with an estimate value of $18 billion for 2014. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened their meeting in the… Read More

March 5, 2015 @ 3:32 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

If the Chinese characters on your bottle of very fine wine recall bygone basketball games, here’s to Yao Ming. Luxury wine brand Yao Family Wines, founded by Yao Ming, retired basketball star with the Houston Rockets and a global humanitarian, is now crowdfunding on Crowdfunder, with a $3 million goal…. Read More

March 2, 2015 @ 11:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore’s first true equity crowdfunding platform, FundedHere, launched today its platform to facilitate equity-based funding and venture debt for start-ups in the region from as low as S$5,000 (US$3,700). The new investment platform is viewed as a “springboard to fund projects in the region”. FundedHere… Read More

February 27, 2015 @ 11:01 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Mambu, a cloud banking technology platform provider that works with more than 100 financial innovators worldwide, including Banco Macro, Opportunity International  and Yale University, uniquely sits at the nexus of the transformation and financial inclusion markets, where new applications and the cloud’s agility offers a particularly compelling value proposition for… Read More

February 27, 2015 @ 9:25 am By JD Alois  |  

  Media conglomerate TOM Group is moving into the online finance space.  The entity, controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is set to expand its ecommerce operation, Ule, into peer to peer lending and online banking in an “aggressive” push via a partnership with… Read More

February 25, 2015 @ 3:41 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

One of China’s largest lenders, and potentially one of the world’s largest, based on the number of branches, is in talks with potential investors about selling a minority stake before a possible listing, according to a recent article in the South China Morning Post. The Postal… Read More

February 24, 2015 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding Asia held its second Asian conference to review the power and potential of new forms of finance. Sponsored by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission, the sold out event saw several hundred attendees from Thailand and surrounding countries in Asia and the United States…. Read More

February 23, 2015 @ 10:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending is booming in China.  There are an estimated 1575 lending platforms, according to Wangdaizhijia.  But most of these P2P companies are targeting the urban and sub-urban markets.  The exception to this is  CreditEase and Eloancn, according to a recent report. Ning… Read More

February 20, 2015 @ 8:10 am By Erin Hobey  |  

 Azimo, the online money transfer service, has announced the launch of its world-class money transfer service to China, enabling customers to send money to friends and family at low-cost. The company introduced its wiring service to Thailand earlier this month.  The new service will provide Azimo’s potential 350… Read More

February 20, 2015 @ 3:58 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

The competition is down to just a few finalists in Channel News Asia’s “Start Up” TV show, and Andrea Loubier is one of them. Loubier is the CEO of Mailbird, a tech startup headquartered in Bali, with offices in Bandung, Indonesia, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Three judges… Read More