Asia

February 11, 2022 @ 7:01 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Infina, a retail investing app focused on Vietnam, this week announced they have closed a $6 million seed funding round from investors such as Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, Y Combinator, Saison Capital, Starling Ventures, Alpha JWC, and AppWorks. Additional investors who have backed Robinhood, Coinbase,… Read More

February 10, 2022 @ 10:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Rino, the newly-launched startup founded by Trung Thanh Nguyen, has finalized a $3M pre-seed round in order to accelerate the firm’s blueprint for 10-minute instant delivery by “setting up dark stores and building its own logistics units beginning with Ho Chi Minh City.” Trung Thanh… Read More

February 10, 2022 @ 8:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Home-grown startup PDAX (in the Philippines) has announced that it acquired over $50 million in funding, led by Tiger Global. Tiger’s investment completes the firm’s Series B round of funding, which began with $12.5 million back in August of last year. Alex Cook, Partner, Tiger… Read More

February 9, 2022 @ 10:51 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Philippines neobank Tonik announced this week it has raised $17 million in Pre-Series B funding. The news follows less than one year after Tonik’s March 2021 public launch that saw it secure more than $20 million in retail deposits in under one month – a… Read More

February 9, 2022 @ 8:42 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Indian payments unicorn Razorpay has acquired a majority stake in Curlec, a Malaysian recurring payments solutions provider. The cost was just under $20 million. Curlec is the first international acquisition for Razorpay, and taken together with the previous ones it shows a very deliberate growth… Read More

February 8, 2022 @ 9:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently connected with Seira Yun, the Founder & CEO at Socious, a Fintech/Community App for social change. Seira Yun, a Japanese serial social entrepreneur, full-stack developer, and impact angel investor told Crowdfund Insider that he’s interested in getting more involved in the decentralized/distributed autonomous… Read More

February 6, 2022 @ 5:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sber has reportedly marketed money transfers to Alipay wallets in mainland China by using phone numbers. In order to make a remittance payment, users simply need to indicate the phone number and full name of the intended recipient via SberBank Online, and the funds will… Read More

February 6, 2022 @ 4:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently noted that banks in the Southeast Asian country have “substantially” implemented the additional measures to enhance the security of virtual banking announced on 19 January 2022. The measures, taken together, offer a “significant” added layer of security to… Read More

February 5, 2022 @ 9:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank of Baroda, one of India’s largest banking institutions, had been looking to boost efficiencies, implement the latest digital technology and provide a more connected customer experience. With these objectives in mind, it chose NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), an international enterprise tech provider, and its… Read More

February 5, 2022 @ 12:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries including Quoine Corporation (Cryptocurrency Exchange Business Kanto Finance Bureau Director No. 00002) and Quoine Pte. in Singapore are reportedly being acquired by FTX Trading Ltd. The acquisition is “expected to close in March 2022, subject to customary… Read More

February 4, 2022 @ 12:47 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

India is to tax and regulate Bitcoin and crypto after previously considering a ban, which could be the next step towards making it legal tender in the country, suspects deVere Group CEO Nigel Green. Green’s assessment comes as Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a… Read More

February 3, 2022 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MRHB DeFi, which claims to be the first decentralized finance ecosystem platform focused on ethical, sustainable and halal cryptocurrency-related opportunities, has secured $5.5 million via a series of private and public rounds which culminated in an initial DEX offering (IDO) that was “oversubscribed” on the… Read More

February 2, 2022 @ 10:25 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Central Bank of Kuwait this week released guidelines for digital banks. They said this falls within its overall efforts to utilize the latest advancements to bolster financial stability, encourage innovation, and meet future economic needs. Governor Dr. Mohammad Y. Al-Hashel said guaranteeing the smooth operation… Read More

February 2, 2022 @ 1:17 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Southeast Asian open finance platform Ayoconnect has closed a $15 million Series B financing round led by Tiger Global. The round was joined by PayU, the payments and Fintech business of Prosus, and Alto Partners, as well as individual strategic investors, including Plaid co-founder William… Read More

February 1, 2022 @ 9:52 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

HashKey Group, a digital asset financial services group in Asia, announced its asset management subsidiary has completed an initial closing of its new fund in December 2021 with commitments of US $360 million. The newly raised capital will be used to fund entrepreneurs and startups… Read More

February 1, 2022 @ 9:29 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Reserve Bank of India plans to launch a digital rupee in the 2022-23 fiscal year that begins on April Fools’ Day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today, saying it will boost the digital economy. She made the comments while delivering the country’s annual budget…. Read More

February 1, 2022 @ 5:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qlub, a company creating a fast payment solution for consumers in restaurants, has secured $17 million via a seed round. Qlub’s investment round has been co-led by Cherry Ventures and Point Nine along with contributions from other several VCs such as STV, Raed Ventures, Heartcore,… Read More

February 1, 2022 @ 11:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Amber Group has acquired DeCurret Inc., a crypto exchange subsidiary of DeCurret Holdings Inc. The transaction was completed by Amber Group subsidiary WhaleFin Holdings Japan K.K (WhaleFin Japan). The transaction enables Amber Group’s entry into Japan, having acquired a Crypto-Asset Exchange Service Provider (CAESP)  registered… Read More

January 31, 2022 @ 11:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered Insurtech firm 360F and AXA recently announced that they will be introducing a full-scale production of their advisory tool, called “My FinScore.” 360F had supported the launch of My FinScore with AXA Singapore earlier in January. The product was made available to AXA’s 700-strong… Read More

January 31, 2022 @ 10:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Plentina, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech focused on serving emerging markets, has teamed up with Southeast Asia’s digital retailer ZALORA in order to provide its short-term financing option. Residents of the Philippines may download the Plentina app to access loans valued at up… Read More