Plaid puts out a ‘request for startups’ in nine underserved fintech sectors
Plaid wants to make it easier for financial services companies to serve consumers and businesses, but it also sees significant holes in the fintech ecosystem. As a result, the company has issued a Y Combinator-like “request for startups” to tackle particular issues where it believes significant innovation is lacking. In case you don’t know, Plaid is a kind of picks-and-shovels tool provider for the fintech developer community. Like Yodlee before it, Plaid enables startups and other tech companies to more easily connect with banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions, both to authenticate consumer accounts and access their financial data. Basically, if you’ve ever used a third-party mobile app […]
Why India’s Fintech startups are flocking to disrupt the UAE
India’s technology startup ecosystem has grown exponentially in recent years and now appears to have caught the eye of startup enthusiasts in the UAE. The Middle East nation is keen to elevate disruptive Indian fintech startups by providing them an international platform and financial support. UAE’s affinity for disruptive fintech According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), India now stands third after the UK and USA in fostering the growth of technology startups. With the UAE aspiring to be a technology hub, there has been considerable interest in identifying appropriate Indian technology startups that could address the nation’s immediate needs across sectors, especially finance. Sandeep […]
A new way to raise money: The Initial Coin Offering
The digital currency ecosystem has had a crazy year. The Bitcoin market capitalization has grown from $11 billion on June 5, 2016 to almost $47 billion USD on June 5, 2017. Negative news during that time included a 120,000 BTC heist from Bitfinex, worth $65m then and $350m now. The Winklevoss twins sought to create an exchange traded fund dealing in Bitcoin, but they were denied. Positive events were much broader, including Japan recognizing the coin as a legal payment method, Russia reversing their prior stand against Bitcoin, and Australia adjusting its policies to remove a double taxation problem for those accepting digital currencies. Now a new phenomenon is sweeping […]
New force among Fintech Hubs
In almost no time, a former hedge-fund manager has built the world’s biggest fintech hub – Lattice80. He is convinced that his strategy will work in other financial markets too, including in Switzerland. The location is a dream for fintechs, both for entrepreneurs and for visitors: the banking district of Singapore, close to UBS, Deutsche Bank, DBS and OCBC. Lattice80 takes up the best of 3,000 square meters of office space on two floors, providing space for work stations and events alike. Lattice80During a visit of finews.com at Lattice80, there’s a nice buzz about the place. Since its foundation in November of 2016, Lattice80 has attracted 85 fintech startups to […]
How Thailand could become Southeast Asia’s next Fintech Hub
Increased adoption of blockchain technologies, Big Data and artificial intelligence would enable Thai fintechs to enhance the products and services available to existing customers but also to serve the country’s under- and unbanked consumers as well. Omise, a payment management platform founded by Jun Hasegawa and Ezra Don Harinsut, is Thai fintech’s greatest success story to date. In 2016, it raised a $17.5 million Series B round and currently operates in Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore. It’s an aspirational story that is indicative of the possibilities for other fintech startups in Thailand, given the right conditions. “Fintech startups have the potential [to] stimulate innovation across not just the Thai financial services […]
HK, Singapore rivalry hobbling Asia in $100b Fintech race
Asia’s competitiveness in fintech is being undermined by the rivalry among the region’s financial centers that has created regulatory complexity and uncertainty, a financial lobby group has warned. Governments across Asia—most notably Hong Kong and Singapore—have launched a raft of initiatives to grab a slice of the $100 billion invested in financial technology globally but the regulatory hotch-potch is making it tough for firms to scale up, the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said in a report on Friday, PTI reported. “The regulatory landscape is very fragmented and a lot of the initiatives, though well-intentioned, are not necessarily well thought through,” said Mark Austen, CEO of ASIFMA. The […]
Addepar raises $140 million in Series D funding
Addepar, a technology provider and operating system designed to cater to financial firms, announced that it has managed to raise $140 million in a series D round co-led by 8VC, Valor Equity Partners, and QuantRes founder Harald McPike. The significant amount of funding follows the developer’s increased growth, as in under a year and a half it has more than doubled the value of assets on its platform, from $300 billion to $650 billion. A correlation has been noted, with valued wealth managers adopting the software. The new funding will assist the company in investing in R&D, the expansion of the platform and technology oriented services in order to be […]
Kasikorn Bank creates $30 million Fintech Fund
Kasikorn Bank has opened up a $30 million fund to invest in to Fintech startups, thus exemplifying the banks attitude to embrace disruptive technologies. The rapid technological developments within the financial industry has opened up new dimensions in the market, changing how customers think. People are moving towards more digital options in an attempt to improve both the quality and ease of different services. Governments are moving to acclimate laws to better encompass these new methods for business. As a result, consumers are now experiencing faster, cheaper, more secure, and more convenient services than ever before. Kasikorn Bank realizes that in order to survive in this new market, they must […]
