VCs back Thai fintech player Finnomena

500 Startups also participated in the funding round, as did domestic telecommunications conglomerate Benchachinda Holdings. Finnomena will use the new capital to expand its portfolio of financial services, according to a release, and will also look for opportunities to integrate its technology into Bank of Ayudhya's system.

The investment is the first deal for Finnovate, which the bank launched earlier this year to find and support innovative fintech start-ups in Thailand and the broader Southeast Asia region. Finnovate hopes to help investees attain higher growth than they could on their own, with an eye toward possible acquisitions for its parent.

Bank of Ayudhya, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is one of several Southeast Asian financial institutions to launch VC arms and accelerators aimed at supporting the region's numerous fintech start-ups. Finnovate's debut fund has a corpus of $30 million in addition to its accelerator program, Krungsri Rise, of which Finnomena is a graduate.

"Our fund raising through the Series A financing round makes us a full-fledged wealth management service provider, including securities and investment management services," said Jessada Sookdhis, CEO and co-founder of Finnomena. "The shareholding of Krungsri Finnovate will ensure investors using Finnomena's platforms credibility and confidence."

500 Startups invested from its Thailand-focused vehicle 500 TukTuks, which closed earlier this year at $15.4 million. The firm claims to be the first major Silicon Valley accelerator and seed-stage investor in the Thai market.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Financials
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Thailand
• 500 Startups
• TMT