Asia

June 14, 2021 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BC Technology Group, a digital asset and Fintech-focused firm as well as the parent of OSL, has acquired a $70 million (appr. HKD 543.19 million) investment from Singapore’s GIC, the city-state’s sovereign wealth fund. BC Technology Group says it’s planning to further develop and improve… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 10:00 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

Alibaba-backed Indian major Fintech major Paytm is reported to be in talks with a few domestic payment gateways for a possible acquisition as it firms up its strategy to go public this year. Paytm, owned by financial services firm One97, plans a $3 billion initial… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 6:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Quant trading platform SIGTech has been selected by MasterLink Securities, one of Taiwan’s largest securities dealers, according to a release shared with Crowdfund Insider. As mentioned in the announcement, SIGTech, the provider of quant trading tech for international investment managers, has secured a contract from… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 5:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Egypt’s venture capital investment ecosystem has become one of the most fast-evolving markets in the MENA region. It’s been expanding at a 100% CAGR during the last 5 years, according to the 2020 Egypt Venture Investment Report released by Magnitt in collaboration with Egypt’s IT… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 3:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this week, Merchantrade Asia, a digital money services business operator and e-money issuer, teamed up with palm plantation management services provider LintraMax in order to digitize the payroll system for underserved plantations workers in Malaysia. Through the partnership, Merchantrade Asia and LintraMax plan to… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 10:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based myTukar, a pre-owned car purchasing and selling platform, has teamed up with Insurtech company PolicyStreet.com in order to provide insurance policies for pre-owned automobile purchases. Through the partnership, myTukar’s wholesale and retail clients may get timely insurance quotations along with convenient access to most… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 7:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Line has reportedly introduced its third digital banking platform in Southeast Asia through a partnership with PT Bank KEB Hana Indonesia. The introduction of the smartphone-only bank in Indonesia has come after similar launches in Taiwan and Thailand. The partnership between Line and Hana Bank… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 10:59 am By Xu Gao  |  

National Internet Finance Association of China: Standardized Cosmetic Surgery-Related Financial Products and Services The past few years have seen the rapid development of cosmetic surgery in China. In order to better serve their customers, some financial institutions have cooperated with third-party cosmetic surgery agencies to… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 9:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zack Voell, a cryptocurrency mining specialist, writes in a blog post published by Compass that Iran has banned Bitcoin mining for four months in the country’s most recent “legal pivot” away from the “begrudged but enduring segment of miners” operating in the country. Voell points… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 2:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Zilliqa Research Pte. Ltd., the “high” security, high speed, and low fee Layer 1 blockchain protocol firm, and its sister company Zilliqa Capital Pte. Ltd, the tech firm whose goal is to become the “central business and investment hub” for Zilliqa, recently announced that… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 1:06 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This year’s UEFA EURO extravaganza will have a distinct blockchain influence for the first time. Ant Group’s blockchain arm AntChain has signed a five-year agreement with the football body which will see it become the official blockchain partner of UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA national… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 11:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Osome, a three-year-old Super App that digitizes accounting and compliance services for small businesses, has secured $16 million through a Series A round that received contributions from a group of investors including Target Global, AltaIR Capital, Phystech Ventures, S16VC, and Peng T. Ong (who joined… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 10:25 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The innovation and ventures division at Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has teamed up with fund manager Franklin Templeton in order to introduce a “wealth, health and lifestyle” consumer platform for Singapore residents. Excited to announce our partnership with @FTI_Global to launch Autumn in SG, a… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 11:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

GrabPay, the in-app wallet of Super app Grab, recently announced that it has introduced the GrabPay DuitNow QR feature across Malaysia. The GrabPay digital wallet was reportedly the first in Malaysia to sign-up with PayNet and offer this feature which is now available across the… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 10:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia-based Funding Societies, an established digital financing platform, has teamed up with Foodpanda in order to provide short-term online financing services for registered merchants (via Foodpanda’s network). Through the partnership, the companies have collectively disbursed RM1 million (appr. $240,000) in financing, which enables local… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 9:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered Fintech firm BondEvalue has secured $6 million in capital through its Series A round. The company has raised $10 million in total (to date). MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia and Citigroup were the new investors in BondEvalue’s latest investment round and are now expected to… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 8:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

IT services firm Nityo Infotech has reportedly invested $100 million in Singapore-based Fintech company MatchMove Pay in exchange for an equity stake. Nityo is now the largest shareholder in MatchMove. Nityo‘s management noted that they value the company at $500 million pre-money and $600 million… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 8:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore‘s United Overseas Bank (UOB), a multinational banking organization with branches mostly based in Southeast Asian countries, has announced that it’s piloting the use of Government Technology Agency’s (GovTech) “Sign with Singpass” where a client’s digital signature is used to complete transactions or access product… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 7:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank and financial regulatory authority of the city-state, confirmed recently that it will be setting aside $1.8 billion for Climate-related investment initiatives. The MAS, which administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities, and the… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 1:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines-based virtual bank Tonik recently revealed that it has managed to acquire a digital banking license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the nation’s central bank. Before receiving this license, Tonik had been offering services under a rural banking license (since 2019). BSP has… Read More