Tue, Aug 25, 2020 – 11:02 AM
FUNDING for fintechs in the Asia-Pacific grew 9.1 per cent in the second quarter as investors shifted their bets to firms in Australia and South-east Asia.
While firms in India accounted for 42.9 per cent, or US$543.4 million, of the region's total investments in the first quarter, funding fell to US$339 million in the second quarter as the Indian government continues to clamp down on foreign investments, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
South-east Asian and Australian fintechs, on the other hand, attracted US$455 million and US$369 million, roughly thrice and twice the amounts raised in the previous quarter, respectively.
The region's total investments stood at about US$1.4 billion, although deal activity remained flat.
S&P Global's analyst Celeste Goh noted that India's recent ban on Chinese-owned apps may continue to wither investments from prominent Chinese venture capitalists.
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Meanwhile, in China, funding fell from US$205 million to US$41 million, with the number of deals halved to 10. Recovering investor sentiment may have been dampened, yet again, by fresh outbreaks of Covid-19, said Ms Goh.
The report found that payment companies, particularly those supporting online transactions and are thus considered more resilient in the ongoing pandemic, were a big draw for investors. In the second quarter, these firms raised US$623 million, accounting for almost 45 per cent of the region's total.
The other attractive segments in the second quarter – in descending order according to their aggregate value – are digital lending, banking technology, investments and capital markets technology, financial media and data solutions, and insurance technology.
Australian headquartered payment unicorn Airwallex topped the list with a US$158.3 million Series D round in April, making that its largest funding round to date – which also values the firm at US$1.8 billion on a post-money basis.
Airwallex counts Chinese Internet titans Tencent Holdings and JD.com Inc among its clients. It recently added a WeChat acceptance service in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, which gives merchants access to over 800 million WeChat Pay users.
South-east Asia-based e-wallets were also a big draw for investors.
Voyager Innovations, based in the Philippines, raised US$120 million to facilitate the expansion of its e-wallet service, PayMaya, into adjacent services.
Besides QR-code payment for in-store purchases, users can also get prepaid Visa and Mastercard cards through the e-wallet, as well as obtain unsecured loans from a local lender.
Thailand-based Wave Money saw an injection of US$73.5 million from Jack Ma's Chinese fintech behemoth Ant Financial, which has actively beenRead More – Source
