Asia

May 23, 2016 @ 4:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) has been pounded by bad news this month. Following the announcement that founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche had resigned for alleged improprieties at the online lender, the bad news avalanche began.  One day it was a subpoena, the next it was a… Read More

May 23, 2016 @ 8:27 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

CoAssets (NSX:CAX), launched as a real estate crowdfunding platform in Singapore, announced on Monday its new risk-free crowdfunding that is available for Aussie investors. Following last month’s launch of the CoAssets Australia website in April 2016, CoAssets revealed it is offering new users the chance to trial… Read More

May 22, 2016 @ 10:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore-based EthisCrowd has closed a S$500,000 seed round for their Islamic real estate crowdfunding platform.  The funding round may be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. The new capital was led by Azmi Global, a subsidiary of Asmi & Associates – a top… Read More

May 22, 2016 @ 6:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

  There is a tidal wave of Asian money that wants to head to North America and diversify into different asset classes.  Yet Chinese officials have made it challenging for many individuals to move money out. DreameGGs is a relatively new platform that is seeking… Read More

May 16, 2016 @ 10:13 am By Erin Hobey  |  

As Chinese authorities continue their hunt for unregulated online lending and investment firms, more fraudulent fintech platforms are bound to be nabbed for unseemly and illegal behavior.  Today Bloomberg News reported the latest Ponzi scheme that separated 39.9 billion yuan ($6.1 billion) from 25,000 investors. Crowdfund… Read More

May 12, 2016 @ 10:56 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Curren$eek, a smartphone app that tells users where to find the best money-changer rates, won the Visa and Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM)’s Asean Fintech Challenge. The challenge was held in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum 5.0, to allow start-ups to… Read More

May 12, 2016 @ 10:28 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The UK and Singapore have established a “fintech bridge” that will help financial technology firms and investors from each country gain access to the other. Billed as the first of its kind, the bridge enables the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore… Read More

May 11, 2016 @ 10:37 am By JD Alois  |  

  China is the largest market for alternative finance in the world. According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), China delivered over $100 billion in alternative finance, including peer to peer lending and crowdfunding, in 2015.  This was more than a 3X jump… Read More

May 10, 2016 @ 10:44 am By Erin Hobey  |  

P2P lending startup Faircent has raised Series A round led by JM Financial Ltd subsidiary which has picked up 9.8% stake in the company, according to a release. The capital will be utilized by the Mumbai-based company to build its technology and product as well strengthening and growing… Read More

May 5, 2016 @ 8:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Israel is one of the hottest startup ecosystems in the world today. The small country has consistently punched above its weight class by turning out consecutive startup hits – many in the Fintech sector. The highly educated, risk-embracing Israelis have taken the title of Startup Nation…. Read More

May 3, 2016 @ 11:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The “Memorandum of Cooperation on the Establishment and Implementation of the Asia Region Funds Passport”, has now been signed by Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan. Countries yet to sign include Thailand,Singapore and the Philippines. The “MOC” has been called “the most far-reaching multilateral… Read More

May 3, 2016 @ 11:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fincera (OTCQB: AUTCF), formerly a commercial vehicle leasing company that has now migrated into internet finance for SMEs in China, reported full year results for 2015.  According to the company release, the internet finance based portion of the company (launched in 2014) continues to grow rapidly…. Read More

May 3, 2016 @ 11:51 am By Erin Hobey  |  

MobiKwik, a Gurgaon, India based mobile wallet company, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Japanese GMO Payment Gateway and Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company MediaTek, according to a company press release. The round was part of Series C round raised last month, which included participation from its existing investors… Read More

May 2, 2016 @ 10:06 am By JD Alois  |  

According to a report by CCTV (video below), China registered 4.4 million new businesses during 2015. That means about 12,000 SMEs are launched every single day.  The same report states that 30 trillion yuan or USD $5 trillion went into these young firms. These are mainly… Read More

May 2, 2016 @ 8:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Embedded below is the consultation paper crafted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in anticipation of creating a regulatory regime for peer to peer lending.  The document sets out to review the various legal frameworks in place around the world for peer to peer… Read More

May 1, 2016 @ 9:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

T2P, creators of the e-Wallet App DeepPocket, has received $1.1 million in funding led by Dave McClure’s 500 startups. The funding round also saw participation from Bechnachinda Holding.  T2P is based in Thailand and the additional capital will be leveraged to expand their services beyond… Read More

April 29, 2016 @ 5:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

China’s internet finance industry continues to grow while encountering ongoing challenges as fraud remains prevalent in the loosely regulated sector of the finance industry. Dominated by peer to peer lending (the largest in the world), as of March over 3900 platforms were counted by WDZJ (other… Read More

April 28, 2016 @ 9:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Impact Guru, a “full stack crowdfunding solution”, has received seed funding in the amount of USD $500,000 from RB Investments and Fundnel – an Asian investment crowdfunding platform. Simultaneously, Impact Guru and Fundnel have formed a strategic partnership combining impact / rewards and investment-based crowdfunding…. Read More

April 27, 2016 @ 12:20 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Income tax returns e-filing website ClearTax has secured an angel investment of $1.3 million from top Silicon Valley angels. ClearTax was founded in 2011 by the father-son team of Raja Ram Gupta and Archit Gupta, Srivatsan Chari and Ankit Solanki, ClearTax is the fourth Indian start-up  funded… Read More

April 26, 2016 @ 11:38 am By Erin Hobey  |  

According to Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor R Gandhi, approval of new types of NBFCs (non-banking finance companies) will continue.  Detailed information has not yet been released from the bank, but Gandhi commented while inaugurating the ASSOCHAM summit discussing NBFCs: The Changing Landscape’ reported Mumbai’s Deccan Herald:… Read More