Fintech
Thai bank joins $41m round for local crypto platform
Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya has joined a $41 million Series B round for local cryptocurrency exchange operator Zipmex.
Australia insurance start-up raises $31m Series B
New Zealand venture capital firm Movac has led a $31 million Series B round for Australian insurance technology provider Open.
Faering leads $40m Series C for India fintech start-up
Indian private equity firm Faering Capital has led a $40 million Series C round for stock trading and thematic portfolio platform Smallcase, with support from Amazon and Premji Invest.
Start-up profiles: Digital banking, embedded finance, crypto banking
The Philippines’ Tonik breaks ground in neo-banking; India’s YAP finds new ways to connect banks with their customers; Singapore’s Matrixport scales fast with decentralized finance
Start-up profiles: Infrastructure, insurance, data, payments
Singapore’s Fireblocks tokenizes traditional banks; India’s PolicyBazaar mulls the future of insurance; China’s Rong360 diversifies through data; Cambodia’s Clik targets a payments frontier
Start-up profiles: Transfers, risk, marketplaces
Singapore’s Thunes rethinks remittances for an enterprise clientele; China’s IceKredit brings data privacy to credit scoring; India’s OfBusiness gravitates towards a healthy loans segment
NFTs: Spirits in an invisible world
The use of blockchain to create digital assets has evolved from the mass circulation of ethereal, volatile, and interchangeable tokens into something that feels much more real
Corporate VC: Appetite for disruption
Banks across Asia are leveraging their capital and domain expertise to stay ahead of the curve on financial technology. Each aspect of the corporate VC ecosystem engages with start-ups in different ways
Q&A: Airwallex’s Jack Zhang
Hong Kong-headquartered Airwallex has grown from nothing to a $2.6 billion valuation in the space of six years. Co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang details his plans to build a global financial technology stack
Deal focus: GA backs VNLife’s two-pronged fintech play
VNLife is not alone in trying to build value-added services onto a payment platform in Vietnam, but it is unusual in being able to rely on a profitable B2B digital banking business while figuring out monetization
Indonesia’s Arise reaches first close on seed fund
Indonesia’s Arise, a seed investor set up by MDI Ventures and financial technology specialist Finch Capital, has reached a first close of unspecified size on its debut fund. The target is $40 million.
India's BharatPe achieves $2.8b valuation on $370m Series E
Indian payments player BharatPe has raised $370 million in Series E funding led by Tiger Global Management. The $2.85 valuation means the company joins the country’s fast-growing collection of tech unicorns.
Southeast Asia's FinAccel agrees $2b SPAC merger
FinAccel, operator of Indonesia-focused consumer credit platform Kredivo, has agreed to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at an enterprise valuation of $2 billion.
Asia digital assets platform Matrixport hits $1b valuation
Matrixport, a two-year-old crypto financial services platform based in Singapore, has closed a $100 million Series C round at a valuation of $1 billion.
GA, Dragoneer lead $250m Series B for Vietnam's VNLife
General Atlantic and Dragoneer Investment Group have led a $250 million Series B round for Vietnamese financial technology provider VNLife.
India crypto platform raises $25m Series A
Indian cryptocurrency borrowing and lending platform Vauld has raised a $25 million Series A round led by Valar Ventures, a firm co-founded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
Airwallex founders launch VC fund
The founders of Hong Kong-headquartered financial technology provider Airwallex, which has received $500 million in VC funding, have launched their own venture capital fund.
Riverwood leads $200m Series D for SE Asia payments player Nium
Riverwood Capital has led a $200 million Series D round for Singapore-based cross-border payments technology provider Nium at an approximately $1 billion valuation.
India's Paytm targets $2.2b domestic IPO
Paytm, India’s largest digital payments company, has filed for an INR166 billion ($2.2 billion) domestic IPO, setting up exits for several private equity investors.
VC-backed Mobikwik files for India IPO
Indian digital payments provider Mobikwik is looking to raise up to INR19 billion ($255 million) through a domestic IPO that would facilitate partial exits for a string of investors.
India's Pine Labs raises $315m at $3.5b valuation
Indian financial technology provider Pine Labs has raised a $315 million round featuring BlackRock at a post-money valuation of about $3.5 billion.
Pacific Century's insurtech business closes $180m Series A
Bolttech, a one-year-old company controlled by Pacific Century Group, has raised $180 million at a valuation of $1 billion. It is being called the largest-ever Series A round in insurance technology.
Philippines-based fintech player Voyager raises $167m
Voyager Innovations, a Philippines financial technology company, has raised $167 million in funding from new and existing investors that will support the development of its PayMaya payments service.
Hong Kong crypto player Amber raises $100m
Hong Kong crypto financial services provider Amber Group has raised a $100 million Series B round led by China Renaissance. It is said to value the company at $1 billion.