Fintech funding round-up: 26 August 2016
They said it. We read it. We edit. A round-up of some key events in funding.
Singapore-based MC Payment has raised SGD $6 million ($4.5 million) in a Series B round. The funds will be used to “drive market expansion” into Australia and in southeast Asia, as well as “enhance” its product offerings, including Xaavan, its B2B supply chain and e-invoicing platform for merchants and suppliers.
The investment was led by ESW Manage, an Asia-focused private equity firm along with private investment firm, DZW Capital. Other investors include Golden Equator Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm based in Singapore.
Meniga, a digital banking provider, secured €7.3m to further expand its white label personal finance, personalisation and data-driven marketing solutions for retail banks and merchants. The funding round was led by current investors: Netherlands-based Velocity Capital and Iceland-based Frumtak Ventures.
You’re a star/s
Meniga says its digital banking platform is used by “some of the world’s largest banks”, including Santander, Intesa Sanpaolo, mBank and ING Direct.
And now for something bigger. Much bigger. Investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures, primarily in China, reached $9.62 billion as of 31 July, more than twice the $4.26 billion invested in the region in all of 2015, according to Accenture’s analysis of CB Insights data.
These investment figures eclipsed North America, which garnered $4.58 billion for the same period. It also tops Europe, which attracted $1.85 billion. However, deal volume remains higher in North America and Europe, as the Asia-Pacific increase is due to big investments in a few select fintech companies in China. There have been 192 deals in Asia-Pacific so far this year, as compared with 509 in North America and 230 in Europe.
In fact, the top ten investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures occurred in China and Hong Kong, accounting for 90% of overall Asia-Pacific investments and valued at $8.75 billion. In total, China and Hong Kong fintech ventures have attracted $9 billion in investments so far in 2016. Probably no surprises from all this information as China dominates a lot of things in the 21st century.
