Southeast Asia’s biggest startup files for $1 Billion IPO
Sea Ltd., Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, has filed confidentially for a potential U.S. initial public offering that could raise about $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Singapore-based company, formerly known as Garena, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the past few weeks, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Sea is considering listing in early 2018, though no final decisions have been made, one of the people said. Sea is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on the share sale, the people said. Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, […]
EstateGuru says more than €1 Million in interest paid to Real Estate investors
Peer to peer property lender EstateGuru has shared that investors on its platform have now earned in excess of €1 million. The Estonia-based company said that nearly 6900 investors from 39 different countries have earned, on average, 12.63% since platform launch in 2014. EstateGuru also reports there has been no loss of capital on the platform. At the end of March, EstateGuru celebrated having facilitated €20 million worth of loans through the platform. The company’s CEO Marek Pärtel said his goal has always been to protect investor’s funds while offering great returns in real estate assets. “Real estate is an asset class that is not accessible to many due to […]
Canadian FinTech startup Mylo launches mobile app and raises $1.25M
Mylo Financial Technologies (Mylo), a Montreal-based FinTech startup that offers a mobile personal finance platform to help Canadians achieve their financial goals, has successfully raised $750K and completed its pre-seed financing round. This latest raise brings Mylo’s current financing to $1.25M, led by Ferst Capital Partners (FCP) with the participation of leading FinTech angel investors. “I founded my first company fresh out of university, so I experienced first-hand the challenges of managing my money on an entrepreneur’s budget,” says Philip Barrar, CEO and Founder of Mylo. “Many Canadians have difficulty achieving their financial goals because managing one’s personal finances is complicated, time consuming and for many, inaccessible. Mylo is working […]
Three fintech start-ups pitch for funds
Three of the financial technology start-ups in the Kiwibank Fintech Accelerator programme pitched their ideas to investors before the public demonstration day event in Wellington last week. Creative HQ’s Lightning Lab separated out the investment pitches from the main event which attracted more than 500 people at last Friday’s demo day, saying the single presentation of the past programmes had been confusing for both the audience and the start-ups. A Creative HQ spokeswoman said Flatfish, Sharesies and AccountingPod sought financial backers in a separate briefing, although she declined on their behalf to say how much money each was seeking. The fintech programme was the first of its kind, allowing participants […]
Cryptocurrency market cap reaches $77bn, surpasses Uber and Airbnb
The cryptocurrency sector has seen massive gains in the past few weeks. Almost every single altcoin has increased in value in one way or another this month. According to coinmarketcap, the overall market cap surpassed $77 billion. To put that in perspective, crypto is valued more than some of the world’s most successful startups such as Uber and Airbnb. It seems that cryptocurrency is becoming the next hot topic among investors and technology enthusiasts alike. With the price premium rising as high as 5-10% in Asian countries, it is evident the demand is there. While it was just Bitcoin that was exhibiting an amazing price rally, soon after the alts […]
Robo-advice platform completes £2m funding round
MortgageGym, which according to its creators is the world’s only regulated mortgage robo-adviser, has completed a £2m seed funding round ahead of its launch. The platform has raised over £1.3m in cash and technology development finance through deals with fintech investors Gaby Salem of Wharton Asset Management, China Pacific Capital and Trifecta Capital. MortgageGym expects to announce its strategic distribution partnerships within the next three months, and its official launch is set for the summer. The FCA-authorised service will allow homebuyers to complete their mortgage application online in 15 minutes through a free, hybrid advice website offering mortgage eligibility matching within 60 seconds, regulated robo-advice and access to live advisers. […]
Skandiabanken allows Norwegians to handle Bitcoin through Internet Banking
Norwegian Skandiabanken now enables customers to handle cryptocurrencies over its internet banking application.Increasing demand for Bitcoin and other altcoins can no longer be ignored. The cryptocurrencies have already made inroads to the conventional financial system, both directly as well as indirectly. As banking institutions continue to adopt blockchain technology, a Norwegian online bank — Skandiabanken has gone a step further to recognize Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies as an investment class. In order to facilitate the use of cryptocurrency among its customers, Skandiabanken has recently announced a new feature that enables users to buy and store Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ether on its online banking platform. The bank is offering the […]
Silicon Valley coins a new means of fundraising
When tech start-up Gnosis raised about $US12.5 million in April, the company didn’t tap the typical Silicon Valley funding network of venture capital firms or wealthy investors. Instead, it auctioned tokens online in a process called an “initial coin offering”. They sold out in 12 minutes. These digital coins are essentially clones of the virtual currency bitcoin, which has come under scrutiny for its use in last week’s global hacking attack. The newer coins are the proverbial next big thing in the world of cryptocurrencies, but also pose big risks to buyers. The digital coins theoretically can be used to one day purchase services from issuers such as Gnosis, which […]
