Asia

December 22, 2015 @ 1:51 pm By Elena Mikhaylova  |  

Crowdfunding continues to grow globally. The largest rewards platform, Kickstarter, has hosted close to 100,000 successfully funded projects and has assembled a community of almost 10 million backers. It has been aggressively expanding internationally this year. Some studies suggest that most of the growth in… Read More

December 22, 2015 @ 9:22 am By Erin Hobey  |  

15.5% of digitally active consumers currently use financial technology products Payment services are the most popular product offering Users are younger, wealthier and increasingly urban With 29.1%, Hong Kong has the highest rate of FinTech use of all surveyed markets  “Higher-income individuals are some of the… Read More

December 20, 2015 @ 5:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Speaking at the World Internet Conference (WIC), Eloan CEO Wang Sicong explained his version to become the UBER of peer to peer lending; “We see ourselves as a sharing platform like Uber. Eloan has about 1,600 local partners who manage and oversee lending in their… Read More

December 18, 2015 @ 10:56 am By JD Alois  |  

Yirendai, a subsidiary of one of the largest Chinese peer to peer lenders CreditEase, launched its IPO on the Near York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “YRD”.  The American Depository Shares (ADS) were priced at $10 per share.  According to the company, 7.5 million… Read More

December 17, 2015 @ 6:00 pm By Mouna Aouri Langendorf  |  

These Innovative Entrepreneurs Beg to Differ Two weeks ago, I held a mentoring session for five brilliant startup teams led by female founders. The teams were busy preparing their pitches for the third CrowdfundHerLive event organized by Woomentum, an ecosystem and crowdfunding platform for women-led… Read More

December 17, 2015 @ 2:24 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. linked with fintech platform Finatext Ltd to boost investment trust sales by providing information through a smartphone application, reported  Bloomberg, the first time Mitsubishi partnered with fintech startup on a new service. The Fundect app, which was developed by  as part of a competition run by… Read More

December 17, 2015 @ 12:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

Monexo is a Hong Kong based peer to peer lending platform that seeks to provide financing to SMEs in the region. Founded by Mukesh Bubna, a long-time Citibank executive, Bubna recently commented on the investigation into Ezubo – a China-based peer to peer lender.  Ezubo (sometimes spelled… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 12:22 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

“After much anticipation, the exciting news is finally out,” shared DealIndex Founder and CEO Neha Manaktala on LinkedIn. In partnership with CNBC, DealIndex announced the launch of four crowdfunding indices: International 50 Index, UK 50 Index, Technology Index, and the International Aggregate Index. The indices take transparency in… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 9:53 am By JD Alois  |  

  A recent report published by ACCA, provides a fascinating insight into the largest peer to peer lending market in the world – China. The research has been authored by Dr. Luke Deer from the University of Sydney (and a research associate with the University… Read More

December 14, 2015 @ 12:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lender Lufax is close to raising $1 billion at an astounding valuation of $18 billion.  Shanghai based Lufax, recently rebranded as Lu.com, raised capital earlier this year at a solid $10 billion valuation. Investor demand is said to be very strong. But,… Read More

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