Investors such as EDBI, White Star Capital and Jungle Ventures participated in the funding round for Sleek. According to the startup, it will also use the funds to hire new talent, expand its presence in the existing markets and also enter new markets.

Adrien Barthel, chief growth officer and co-founder of Sleek told the media, “Since day one, our mission has been to allow anyone to start a business quickly and easily. With the latest addition of the business account feature, now more than ever, we are enabling ideas to become great businesses, without the friction and inefficiency that paper based and offline processes bring.’

Sleek has developed a back-end operating system platform that handles everything from incorporation, government, accounting, taxes and visas to regulatory compliance.

Sleek manages a portfolio of more than 5,000 companies. In 2020, the startup handled over 1.4 million bookkeeping transactions and recorded around $700 million of revenue.

In November, Sleek revealed that the funding will be used to enter new markets such as Australia and the UK.

Last year, Sleek raised $4 million in venture funding for its efforts to take on the traditional corporate services industry. The funding round was led by SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

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Sleek has developed a back-end operating system platform that handles everything from incorporation, government, accounting, taxes and visas to regulatory compliance. According to the company, the funds will be used to bolster technology and product development.

At the same time, Sleek will also look to improve the size of its team and expand its presence in existing markets and enter new markets such as Australia and the UK.

Sleek manages a portfolio of more than 5,000 companies. In 2020, the startup handled over 1.4 million bookkeeping transactions and recorded around $700 million of revenue.

Last year, Sleek raised $4 million in venture funding for its efforts to take on the traditional corporate services industry. The funding round was led by SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

Julien Labruyere, chief executive at Sleek told the media, “It has been extremely humbling to experience the growth we’ve seen at Sleek over the last three years, even more so amidst the global pandemic, which has been a growth catalyst for fully digital players like us.”

“Ultimately, we envision Sleek to be the go-to digital platform for all entrepreneurs setting up in Singapore, Hong Kong and beyond.”

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Other companies who joined the funding round were Temasek Holdings, Visa, Vertex Ventures, Beacon Venture Capital and Rocket Capital. Additionally, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC also joined the round, as mentioned by an insider who does not want to be named.

Apart from expanding its business, Nium will also be on the lookout to make its presence felt in Australia. The startup has also bought London-based Ixaris and Wirecard Forex India this year. Nium becoming a unicorn is a major milestone for Singapore as the country of 5.7 million people is trying to position itself as one of the top fintech hubs in the world.

Currently, Singapore boasts an impressive number of 1,000 fintech startups that primarily focus on payments, lending, investment and personal finance. Pine Labs, a payments platform for merchants in India is one of the most valuable fintech startups based in Singapore is valued at $3 billion.

Prajit Nanu, CEO of Nium told the media, “There has been a glass ceiling for Southeast Asian fintech start-ups. “That ceiling has been broken and we’re likely to see more unicorns, largely in fintech, coming out of Singapore.”

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After its current investment in MatchMove, Nityo, which operates in 38 countries worldwide is all set to become its largest shareholder. The Singaporean fintech company will help other companies to embed digital financial services into their existing apps or platforms. The company already has regulatory approval to operate in six countries, including India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Nityo Infotech founder and CEO Naveen Kumar said in a statement, “With this investment and Nityo’s global strength, we are certainly looking to build a decacorn in the future, as we believe MatchMove is the most qualified soonicorn in the fintech space in Southeast Asia.”

The news of this investment comes after MatchMove’s earlier negotiations with potential investors to raise between $45 to $50 million fell through in April, due to which the company failed to secure a digital banking license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Prior to this, MatchMove already had a partnership with Singapura finance, Lightnet, and OpenPayd holdings to apply for digital licenses in the city-state. The license would allow the company to enter into the digitally underserved segments such as SMEs and gig workers.

MatchMove currently operates in six markets across South and Southeast Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and of course, its home markets. The company plans to launch its programmes in Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand by the end of 2021.

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Founded in 2017, Trovio has come up with a niche platform that specialises in fractionalisation and digitisation of physical goods. It didn’t take long for the company to emerge as a market leader, having successfully issued the Perth Mint Gold Token, which is the world’s first digital gold token on a public blockchain that is backed by government-guaranteed gold. The company decided to open a regional office in Singapore because the country has proved itself as an important center for gold trading in the ASEAN region.

Jon Deane, CEO of Trovio, said in a statement, “The global precious metals industry is making huge strides in working to both understand its carbon footprint and ensure that the physical metal is responsibly sourced. Joining the SBMA is particularly apt for Trovio as we are committed to providing our partners in APac with technologies that enable new digital market pathways, traceability on supply, and access to an increasing suite of sustainable precious metals products.”

Trovio says that it aims to improve the efficiency of global commodities market and will also try to make it more transparent. The company is also all set to launch the world’s first carbon-neutral gold exchange trade which is funded by the Australian stock exchange.

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Around $15 million of the funding will be invested in SME financing on Validus’ peer-to-business financing platform, whereas, another $22.4 million would be injecteded into Validus’ Enterprise Financing Scheme.

In this regard, Fasanara Capital chief executive officer Francesco Filia told the media, “With Validus, we found a partner that shares the same commitment in addressing the SME financing gap through providing stable funding. Validus’ proven technology and ‘global’ structure gives them a strategic advantage in implementing best practices, strong credit models and governance framework – ingredients for a mutually beneficial partnership that we can leverage across other markets in the region.”

Last month, another Singapore-based fintech startup STACS secured fresh funding to develop blockchain platforms for financial institutions. The startup raised $3.6 million in its pre-Series A funding round. The funding round was led by Wavemaker Partners and saw participation from Singapore government-backed programme for blockchain startup Tribe Accelerator.

Ray Ferguson, Chairman at STACS told the media, “Since the 1970s, the capital markets have been fragmented, with institutions operating on different systems and ledgers, and going through a linearly-dependent process which has led to a situation whereby $800 billion of capital is being locked up every single day in the international clearing system.”

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Ray Ferguson, Chairman at STACS told the media, “Since the 1970s, the capital markets have been fragmented, with institutions operating on different systems and ledgers, and going through a linearly-dependent process which has led to a situation whereby $800 billion of capital is being locked up every single day in the international clearing system.

“Due to multiple layers of processing, nearly $300 billion is being spent on transaction costs in a model that one would be hard-pressed to argue is efficient. This is all wastage — wasted time, wasted money, wasted carbon footprints — that we at STACS are committed to addressing through our distributed ledger technology. Innovating our way out of these problems is vital if we are to deliver a green and sustainable future for financial services.”

Last year, Singapore-based fintech company Atlantis entered India with the launch of its digital or neobank in the country. In the Indian market, Atlantis targets the millennials and the Genz with its neobank. The banking sector for young consumers is expected to grow by around 80 percent by 2025, and could be valued at over $27 billion. According to the bank, it accepts a new user either through a waitlist or via an invite from an existing member. Reportedly, more than 5,000 customers are on the waitlist.

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STACS blockchain project, also known as ‘Project Nathan – Smart Structured Products’, is aimed at developing a widespread use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to automate and manage the entire lifecycle of a structured product. Currently, the project is in its first phase of development.

Ivan Ferraroni, managing director of EFG Bank, Hong Kong told the media, “Participating in this MAS funded initiative was an exciting experience for EFG and our team members. This is in line with our efforts to change the speed and scope of digitalisation in our business. Working with STACS has been very smooth and seamless, and we certainly managed to learn from each other. The project is innovative, demonstrates significant efficiency gains and can be extended to other asset classes in the future.”

Earlier this month, banking giants Standard Chartered and DBS Bank announced a successful blockchain proof of concept for a Singapore Trade Finance Registry (TFR). The core focus of the project is to prevent the use of the same trade finance document more than once.

It is reported that the Singaporean government is collaborating with local startup Accredify to develop a blockchain-based digital health passport to boost medical records management. This development is anticipated to help store healthcare data in a digital wallet and it is funded by Singapore’s Ministry of Finance, media reports said.

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Investors that participated in the funding round for AMTD Digital include Value Partners, Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments, Vision Knight Capital, Ariana Capital, Maoyan Entertainment and Infinity Power.

The company plans to use the funds to develop a  one-stop digital solutions platform that connects different stakeholders in the SpiderNet ecosystem through digital innovations.

Calvin Choi, chairman of AMTD Group and AMTD Digital also confirmed the same through a statement.

He added that the company wants to expand its product and service offerings and add to its list services such as digital connectors, ecosystem building, and data analytics as well as digital intelligence, media and marketing.

Earlier this year, AMTD Digital also applied for a digital banking licence in Singapore through a consortium consisting of state-owned SP Group, crowdfunding startup Funding Societies, and Xiaomi Finance.

AMTD Group, the parent company of AMTD Digital, through its AMTD ASEAN Solidarity Fund Group, has invested a total of $11.5 million in five fintech startups in Singapore, the media reported.

The fintechs are SME digital financing platform Funding Societies, digital banking solutions provider Active.ai, credit card enablement platform provider CardUp, cross-border payments platform provider Transwap and insurtech company PolicyPal.

The investments are made in a variety of structures, including equities, convertible notes, venture debts, warrants and options.

With regard to the investment, Calvin Choi told the media, “AMTD is proud to support the fintech community in Singapore, witnessing the resilience and embracing opportunities in its fintech and innovation sectors.”

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The funding round for Thunes was led by Helios Investment Partners. Other investors that participated in the round include Checkout.com and returning investors GGV Capital and Future Shape.

According to reports, the funds will help Thunes grow its business in markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Earlier the Singapore-based fintech raised around $10 million in its Series A funding round. Currently, it operates in more than 100 countries across the globe.

Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes also has offices in London, Shanghai, New York, Dubai and Nairobi.

Helios Investment Partners co-founder and managing partner Tope Lawani told TechCrunch, “Cross-border payments represents a significant market opportunity globally given increasing cross border trade and globalization; yet, across several emerging markets, fragmented and complex payment ecosystems often leave businesses and consumers struggling with slow, costly and unreliable ways of moving money.”

“Thunes’ unique platform which was set up to address these pain points by providing accessible, fast and reliable payment solutions stood out to us as a company very well positioned to capture this growth,” he added.

Earlier this year, Singapore-based fintech startup Fincy raised $11 million from its parent company GBCI Ventures. GBCI Ventures has injected a massive capital into the fintech. The parent company is a leading smart city solutions provider across industries.

The startup is active in contactless mobile payments in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is accepted by more than 700 merchants and used by over 40 companies in the country.

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