Vemanti says it will utilize cloud computing, API, automated KYC/AML, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and blockchain technologies to power the new digital-first platform.

Read more: Crowdfund Insider

The post Vemanti Group Will Launch Digital Bank in Vietnam appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

The investment round is led by Square Peg, a leading global VC firm whose investments include unicorns such as Canva, FinAccel and Airwallex. Other participants of the round include Jungle Ventures, Granite Oak, FinAccel, Phoenix Holdings and other super angels.

Read more: Fintech News Vietnam

The post Vietnam’s Digital Bank Timo Secures US$20 Million appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Cake claims its online know-your-customer (KYC) system would enable users to utilise digital signatures to verify their transactions.

With services hosted on the Be app through VPBank’s digital banking license, Be claims Cake will have access to over 10 million customers, nearly a third of the Vietnamese ride-hailing market.

Read more: e27

The post Be Group ties up with VPBank to launch digital bank Cake in Vietnam appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Social distancing measures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus have pushed consumers towards online commerce and digital payments, two trends experts believe are here to stay.

In Q1 2020, electronic payments increased by 76% with the total value of transactions jumping 124% compared to Q1’19, according to a report by Vietnam Times.

M-Service, the operator of mobile wallet MoMo, said payments have doubled since February 2020. Vietnam Payment Solution Company (VNPAY) said it saw a 600% increase in payment transactions on its VNPay – QR Payment Gateway in February.

These rapidly changing customer behaviors are forcing banks to ramp up their digital transformation. Last month, Vietnam’s Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) announced a partnership with digital-first banking platform Backbase to provide the bank’s customers with digital-first products and services. The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade Vietnam (Vietcombank) launched its new digital bank service, VCB Digibank, in July, integrating its online trading platforms.

Read more: Fintech News Vietnam

The post Digital Banking Heats up in Vietnam Amid COVID-19 appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

After an explosion in the number of deals in 2015, the Vietnamese ecosystem regressed to the mean in 2016. But, other data supports overall positive growth, continuing a trend that has made Vietnam the darling “up-and-coming ecosystem” in Southeast Asia.

A report by the Vietnamese accelerator Topica Founder’s Institute broke down the 2016 trends and happenings within the country’s startup ecosystem. The entire deck is above and e27 highlighted the key trends below.

Vietnam’s dealflow 

For clarity, in this article the term ‘deals’ also refers to M&A activity and is not just fundraising. 

According to the report, Vietnam’s startup economy is in the midst of a healthy, upwards trajectory.

Overall, Vietnam saw a 34 per cent drop in the number of deals between 2015 and 2016 (from 67 to 50). However, this appears to be a regression to the mean rather than a concerning dip.

The amount of deals Vietnam saw in 2012, 2013 and 2014 was  24, 25 and 28 respectively. So, 67 the next year seems like an outlier number. 50 deals in 2016 is more in line with a growing ecosystem, rather than the exponential jump of 2015.

In these deals, total transaction volume was US$205 million, a 49.6 per cent boost from US$137 in 2015. It was driven largely by fintech, which saw US$129 million in dealflow as an industry.

Of the 50 deals, 40 of them were worth less than US$5 million with the majority (19) falling in the US$1 million to US$5 million range.

As with all ecosystems in Southeast Asia, the deals were mostly early-stage funding rounds as 70 per cent would fall into the Series A or Seed-stage categories. 30 per cent of deals were Seed and 40 per cent were Series A rounds.

Angel investing was a unpopular form of financing in 2016, with only 4 per cent of dealflow qualifying as an Angel Round. Only 12 per cent of deals were above Series A rounds — split as 8 per cent Series B and 4 per cent Series C.

The remaining 14 per cent were M&A deals.

Foreign investors outperformed local funds in terms of deal size, with UTC Investments (Korea) leading the pack after a US$33.8 million acquisition of VNPT E-pay.

CyberAgent (Japan) and Mekong Capital (Vietnam) were the most active investors in 2016, inking three deals each.

Fintech startups raised the most money, e-commerce sector had the most deals

Fintech reigned supreme in Vietnam. The industry raised US$129.1 million despite ranking second in the total number of deals.

E-commerce was the most active sector with 12 deals in 2016 — but it also only raised US$34.7 million — 27 per cent of the amount raised in the fintech sector.

The second fastest growing sector after fintech was edtech – raising US$20 million in 6 deals.

Mediatech saw a serious slowdown after raising US$4 million in 4 deals (as compared to US$15 million in 15 deals in 2015). However, the acquisiton of BIG CAT Entertainment by Asia Innovations Group was a notable exit in the sector.

Assuming Vietnam maintains its momentum, data from 2016 paints a very positive picture for the Vietnamese startup ecosystem moving into 2017.

Appeared at e27

The post Number of Vietnamese deals dropped in 2016, but were worth a whole lot more appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Remitano, a Vietnam-based P2P platform for trading bitcoin, has expanded its services across the English-speaking world.

The company is targeting bitcoin exchangers, investors and users of remittance services, beginning with Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and China.

Leading sources of traffic on Remitano besides Vietnam are Nigeria and Malaysia.

Focus: Fraud Prevention

“Our new platform will help bring bitcoin to everyone, by means of preventing fraud and scamming among the bitcoin community,” said CEO and co-founder Dung Huynh. “Bitcoin fraud is a problem that is deterring people from partaking in this exciting market, hampering its overall potential. At Remitano, we want to fix that.”

Fake exchanges, fraudulent bitcoin “wallets” which allow malware into a computer, phishing and Ponzi schemes are all things that would-be bitcoin traders need to look out for on a daily basis, according to Remitano.

Remitano features a simple user interface and responsive customer support. Customers in need of support can jump on a live chat and get questions answered quickly.

When a user opens a trade, Remitano holds the amount of bitcoins they wish to buy in escrow. The buyer can send payment to the seller without having to worry about not receiving bitcoin.

The bitcoin remains locked until the seller confirms the payment.

Also read: Bitcoin survey: 1 in 4 bitcoin users defrauded by exchanges

Dispute Resolution

The Remitano support team will resolve disputes based on evidence provided by both sides.

The 0.5% fee charged by the platform is lower than the other major platforms in the market.

Remitano is owned by Babylon Solutions Limited, which is incorporated in Seychelles.

The team is comprised mostly by banking professionals with experience in financial products, electronic currencies and payment services.

The app is available on the App Store and Google Pay.

First appeared at CryptoCoins News

The post Vietnamese Bitcoin P2P Platform Remitano Targets Global Expansion appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

The programme will be led by ex-JFDI Entrepreneur-in-Residence/Program Manager Adrian Tan.

The Vietnam Innovative Startup Accelerator (VIISA) launched today by opening applications for its inaugural batch in November 2016.

Supported by partnerships with major corporations such as BIDV, FPT, Dragon Capital and Hanwha Investment, the accelerator is set to invest US$8 million to Vietnam-based startups led by local and foreign entrepreneurs.

With the launch, VIISA also announced the appointment of Adrian Tan, former Entrepreneur-in-Residence/Program Manager of Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), as Program Director.

“There are more than 650 million people in Southeast Asia and a fast growing middle class,” Tan said in a press statement. “We believe that VIISA can help entrepreneurs create value through innovative products and services for the emerging markets that can impact millions of people.”

Also Read: NSI Ventures’s Hian Goh: An investor’s perspective on Vietnam’s challenges and potential

VIISA aims to attract foreign and local entrepreneurs to “seize the opportunities” and build their startup
from Vietnam.

“We are particularly interested in B2C/B2B platforms, fintech, and insurtech for the inaugural batch, [although] we are open to getting good quality teams from any sectors,” Tan explained in an e-mail toe27.

In the programme, each company will receive up to US$15,000. The accelerator will also provide up to US$200,000 worth of technical resources, office accommodation, accountancy and bank account services, and access to more than 100 world class mentors and investors. Promising startups will also receive up to
to US$500,000 of follow-on funding.

Application is now open for the programme’s inaugural batch in December. Shortlisted startups will be accepted into a one-month online pre-accelerator programme in November. After that,  the 10 selected companies will attend an on-site programme for three months in Ho Chi Minh City.

The teams will then present their pitches in a Demo Day on March 2017 to invited investors.

First appeared at e27

The post New accelerator VIISA launches to help Vietnamese startups go global appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Vietnam-based fintech startup Momo today announced it obtained US$28 million in series B funding from Standard Chartered Private Equity and global investment bank Goldman Sachs, which is an existing backer.

It has over 2.5 million users in Vietnam.

Launched in 2014, Momo is an ewallet and payments app that allows users to pay online and transfer money to each other digitally. At selected stores, the app can be used for cashless payments.

The company also has a physical network of over 4,000 over-the-counter agents where people can remit money and avail of other financial services through Momo.

Momo claims to process millions of transactions daily for its over 2.5 million users in Vietnam, where banks and smartphones are not accessible in some areas.

CEO Pham Thanh Duc says the startup will use the fresh investment to “accelerate Momo’s growth by continuing to invest in the launching of new products and services, expanding bank and merchant connectivity, and extending the nationwide installation of Momo point-of-sale terminals at retail outlets.”

He adds that Standard Chartered and Goldman Sachs are the right partners because of the synergies Momo could create with them.

Goldman Sachs previously invested US$5.75 million in Momo. Standard Chartered, for its part, teamed up with Momo to provide the “Straight2Bank” wallet payments for the bank’s corporate clients in Vietnam. The service enables corporations and government organizations to make payments directly to their beneficiaries via the Momo wallet.

The article first appeared in the Techinasia.com

The post Deals: Fintech startup Momo raises $28m from Standard Chartered’s VC arm, Goldman Sachs appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Singapore-based early-stage venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures foresees the pace of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Southeast Asia catapulting, as more institutional funds, protectionists economic policies and global funds look to expand their footprint in the region.

The venture capital firm, in a report, predicted that this region will see a minimum of 250 M&A’s occurring each year beginning 2020, reflecting a 500 per cent increase in M&A exits from the number expected in the 2015 to 2020 period.

The VC firm, which has investments across this region and Silicon Valley, in its second report on the growth of M&As in Southeast Asia, released Tuesday, noted that while the option to go public in regional exchanges remains a distinct possibility, acquisitions will drive primarily exits in Southeast Asia. 

Golden Gate Ventures managing partner Vincent Lauria explained:

“In the United States, a successful exit involves going public. The financial returns generated from listing on NASDAQ or the London Stock Exchange usually mean that both investors and entrepreneurs alike have generated a pretty healthy return on their investment. In Southeast Asia, it’s the opposite: a trade sale will often result in larger financial returns than going public, especially if the acquirer has a strong strategic interest in the region.”

Of the top ten M&As in the region by value, eight occurred within the last three years. Golden Gate Ventures expects this trend to accelerate, especially with the surge in capitalisation from global funds.

The VC firm, which is currently raising its second vehicle, targeted at $50 million, pointed out that there has only been 11 tech IPOs in Southeast Asia since 2005, while there have been 127 acquisitions during the same time period.

The most notable regional exits have all been acquisitions: Rakuten’s record breaking purchase of Viki for $200 million in 2012, Zendesk’s $30 million acquisition of Zopim in 2014, and even McAfee’s landmark acquisition of Darius Cheung’s tenCube back in 2009.

“As the region becomes a target for more global funds, much of that funding will only accelerate the rise of profitable, viable businesses, which in turn will foster more M&A activity, especially in light of emerging Asia’s increasing strategic and economic value,” Golden Gate Ventures’ report added.

The increase of non-VC investments also bodes well for M&A activity in the region, as Chinese tech firms like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD have already made several large investments in the region.

Major Japanese banks such as Credit Saison have also recently begun investing in fintech startups in Southeast Asia, looking to increase their customer base.

“Often, such investments are a prelude to acquisition, as they are an opportunity for the investor to follow the startup closely and learn more about its market for several years or months. Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed large-cap tech companies have also been major players,” the VC firm observed.

Indian companies have also been strengthening ties to Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore. It has been reported that round three-fourths of Indian startups that raised early-stage funding in 2015 will redomicile to Singapore, seeking a more amenable regulatory climate.

Indian foreign direct investment (FDI) in Singapore also reached $25 billion in 2014. This could point to an increasing trend towards M&A by Indian companies in the next three to five years.

IPO still an option

Tech companies going public on regional exchanges is a rare event with most turning to ASX to list. In the past ten years there have been 145 per cent more M&As than IPOs in Southeast Asia.

Among the markets, the Singapore Exchange has become the international platform of choice for fundraising – positioning itself as a friendly market to take a business public through numerous initiatives, including the junior tech board Catalist, to help tech companies list more easily. These initiatives appear to be making inroads with technology companies, Golden Gate Ventures highlighted,

Among the IPO candidates are Trendlines, an Israeli technology incubator that listed on Catalist November 2015, and security firm Secura in January 2016. Upcoming is cloud­based software provider Deskera planning to go public sometime this year.

Better funding leads to better potential sales

Capital investment in Southeast Asia has increased by 47 per cent since 2013, Golden Gate Ventures pointed out, with 2015 seeing the formation of Southeast Asia-focused firms with a total capitalisation of as much as $2 billion.

The growth in funding has enabled startups to rapidly build development capabilities, hire talent, and improve operations across the region. These mature startups are attractive to prospective buyers who want to expand their footprint in the region’s fastest growing markets.

Through acquisitions, global players can circumvent many of the difficulties associated with growing a business in a foreign market, Golden Gate Ventures noted.

Cosmetics company, Luxola, founder Alexis Horowitz­-Burdick noted that acquisitions are extremely useful for international companies looking to expand into Southeast Asia.

“This is a really difficult region to do business, especially for outsiders that aren’t too familiar with the different markets.”

In July 2015, Luxola was acquired by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH.

“By acquiring a company with a strong team, existing customers, and a strong operational foundation, global companies can often expand into Southeast Asia much more efficiently than attempting it themselves,” Horowitz­-Burdick said.

In an earlier report, in August 2015, Golden Gate had said that Series A investments in Southeast Asian (ASEAN) internet startups had almost tripled in the 2010-2014 period, from $29 million in 2010 to $87 million in 2014, while adding that most capital in Southeast Asia flowed into Singapore, during this period, where 10 startups ventures had raised $60 million in 2014 in total. , with a Series A investment as between $1 million and $10 million by GGV.

The article first appeared in DealStreetAsia.com

The post Golden Gate Ventures: the upcoming rise of M&A in ASEAN appeared first on FinTech Ranking.

Gov’t-World Bank Group joint report recommends reforms to foster private sector competitiveness, promote social inclusion and build modern institutions.

The post World Bank: how Vietnam can become a modern, industrialized nation in 20 years appeared first on FinTech Ranking.