Tagged: southeast asia

May 3, 2021 @ 8:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently caught up with Bhavik Vasa, founder and CEO at GetVantage, which is India and Southeast Asia’s first revenue-based financing Fintech platform. Vasa talked about the different challenges entrepreneurs face as they work on developing new products and services. Vasa explained how GetVantage‘s unique… Read More

April 27, 2021 @ 11:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) has reportedly made a co-investment of RM165 million (appr. $40.27 million) in 5,349 equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing (P2P) initiatives, which aims to benefit 1,197 Malaysian MSMEs by the end of last year. Since its October 2019 launch, these Malaysia-based… Read More

April 27, 2021 @ 1:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MyMy revealed on Monday (April 26, 2021) that it has obtained conditional approval for a large scheme E-money license from Bank Negara Malaysia, the nation’s central bank. The Fintech firm is now planning to launch its digital wallet services in the coming year. Until all… Read More

April 27, 2021 @ 12:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia based StashAway, a digital wealth manager, is reportedly raising $25 million as part of its Series D funding round that is being led by VC firm Sequoia Capital India. StashAway’s current investors, Eight Roads Ventures, the international investment company supported by Fidelity International… Read More

April 23, 2021 @ 6:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines-based Uploan, an established provider of salary-linked financial services, has reportedly acquired a senior secured loan of $15 million from UK’s Lendable, a provider of debt to Fintech firms in emerging or developing markets. The long-term facility should help Uploan with expanding its existing loan… Read More

April 23, 2021 @ 4:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

DBS Bank and Contour have expanded their digital trade offerings to four new markets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. As mentioned in a release, digital letter of credit capabilities will be offered in Australia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore starting this month. The announcement also… Read More

April 17, 2021 @ 3:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysian Insurtech platform Fatberry has reportedly secured RM 2.5 million (appr. $600,000) through a pre-series A funding round. As noted by its management: “FatBerry is Malaysia’s most comprehensive online insurance portal. We allow you to compare and search for the best coverage plans quickly and… Read More

April 17, 2021 @ 12:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Swiss wealth management group Julius Baer has introduced its Digital Advisory Suite (DiAS) in Asian markets. The DIAS soluton aims to simplify the regulatory compliance process for relationship managers, allowing them to provide compliant advice to their customers. The suite serves as a “fully-integrated” solution…. Read More

April 15, 2021 @ 9:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Luno, a crypto-asset trading platform in Malaysia that has been cleared by the Securities Commission, has revealed that it’s now managing over RM 1 billion or $240 millon worth of digital assets. This milestone has been reached in less than 2 years since the company… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Robo-advisory services in Southeast Asian countries like Singapore are increasingly being used for managing finances and investments. Robo advisors were introduced around 2008, which was when the world was dealing with the global financial crisis. Over the years, digital transformation and the emergence of new… Read More

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

Payments solution provider Fave has reportedly been acquired by Pine Labs, an Asian commerce platform. The acquistion deal is deal valued at more than RM 185 million (appr. $45 million). With this strategic acquisition, Indian consumers may now use the Fave app at some point… Read More

April 13, 2021 @ 1:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia’s PayNet, the national payments network and shared central infrastructure for that nation’s capital markets, has decided to work with FassPay, a subsidiary of Soft Space, which will be a third-party acquirer for MyDebit, the country’s local debit card scheme. This new appointment should allow… Read More

April 13, 2021 @ 12:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

DBS (SGX:D05)/POSB retail clients are now able to access a new feature offered via DBS’ AI-enhanced financial and retirement planning tool, called NAV Planner, which will aim to offer specific investment recommendations that are well-suited for different investment profiles and requirements. Evy Wee, Head of… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

RinggitPlus, a financial marketplace that’s owned by Jirnexu, has introduced RinggitPlus Advance, which is a one-to-one digital financial planning service for Malaysian residents. As noted by its management: “RinggitPlus is Malaysia’s leading financial comparison website. Everyday we help thousands of Malaysians #GetMore for their money…. Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 10:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Just six months into its launch, Maybank SME Digital Financing has reportedly cleared RM1 billion (appr. $240 million) worth of financing, serving over 8,200 SMEs, of which around 85% or 6,950 are startups and micro-enterprises based in Malaysia. Maybank stated that all applications that were… Read More

April 10, 2021 @ 9:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ZA Tech Global Limited, the technology venture established by ZA International and supported by Softbank’s Vision Fund 1, revealed on Friday (April 9, 2021) that it’s launching its Asia Fintech Center (AFC) in Singapore. The new center will focus on financial services innovation projects and… Read More

April 10, 2021 @ 8:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech funding has really picked up in 2021. It’s estimated to have already reached $15 billion during the first quarter, according to CB Insights data. In Asia, Fintech-related investments are on track to exceed $2.6 billion, which is notably the continent’s highest quarterly total since… Read More

April 8, 2021 @ 11:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Axiata Group and Telenor Asia revealed on Thursday (April 8, 2021) that they’ve revisted and confirmed their merger plans involving Celcom and Digi. At present, the deal is in advanced discussions. Malaysian telecoms company Axiata Group Bhd and Norway-based Telenor ASA will be focused on… Read More

April 8, 2021 @ 10:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The blockchain-based decentralized applications (dApp) industry has seen “tremendous” growth, according to a report from DappRadar. There’s been a 639% increase in active wallets across all blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled platforms during Q1 2020. The report reveals that there were around 458,000 daily… Read More

April 8, 2021 @ 8:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) has announced that it has chosen five high-potential startups to participate in its very first Accelerator Program for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. During the next 4-6 months, the startups will be focused on developing various commercial initiatives such as new… Read More