A renowned innovation hub and a global financial center, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to become a launch pad for fintech startups that are looking to tap into the world’s biggest consumer market.

According to a survey conducted by EY, Hong Kong has the highest rate of fintech use of all markets surveyed (29.1%), followed by the US (16.5%), Singapore (14.7%), the UK (14.3%), Australia (13%) and Canada (8.2%).

Hong Kong also has a strong and supportive community of fintech authorities and investors which have contributed to the development of the local fintech scene and helped nurtured some of the world’s top fintech startups.

Today, we take a look at the top eight fintech ventures in Hong Kong to keep an eye on this year.

Amareos

Amareos specializes in financial news intelligence. The company offers a platform that provides a seamless integration of news analytics and financial context.

Combining crowd-sourced sentiment data with in-depth research, Amareos gives clients the edge by providing them with innovative insight into the drivers of global markets.

It offers 300+ sentiment indicators for more than 9,000 underlyings covering global macro trends, equities, commodities and currencies.

Aidyia

Founded in 2011, Aidyia Ltd is a wholly owned advisor to Aidyia Holdings Limited, a Cayman Island company. The company deploys an artificial general intelligence (AGI) technology to identify patterns and predict price movements in financial markets.

AGI is a branch of artificial intelligence aimed at learning mimicking the human brain’s breadth, depth and generality of understanding. Applied to financial markets, the technology enables financial prediction and trading systems that have a human-like ability to recognize mathematical patterns in market data and understand what these patterns mean in a broader context.

Aidyia Ltd was licensed by the SFC in Hong Kong as an asset manager in December 2012.

AMP Credit Technologies

AMP Credit Technologies provides an integrated loan management platform to banks and other financial institutions that includes credit scoring, loan origination and servicing, document management and CRM.

Launched in 2010, the platform leverages sophisticated data analytics and dynamic loan management functionality that enables automation in loan origination, repayment and credit monitoring.

Ironfly Technologies

Ironfly Technologies provides a combined order and execution management system for equities and equity derivatives.

The modular product suite can be modified to adapt to a firm’s specific requirements and existing configuration. The suite can be seamlessly integrated with any third party or proprietary trade workflow applications including OMS’s, market data, risk and analytics applications and trade reporting services.

Monexco

Monexo is a peer-to-peer lender offering an online marketplace matching borrowers who own rental properties with individuals looking to get a higher return on their cash than they can in banks.

Monexo assesses and rates borrowers according to data they supply about themselves, their properties, Hong Kong Credit Bureau, Land Search and other sources. The platform went in 2015.

Monexo is based at Cyberport, one of Hong Kong’s government-backed ICT incubators.

Investable

Investable is Hong Kong’s first full-service equity crowdfunding platform, offering professional investors access to the same opportunities and level of information as venture capitalists.

The platform connects professional investors to technology startups, allowing them to browse and invest in pre-vetted early-stage investment opportunities in high-growth industries such as smart cities, fintech, healthtech and Internet-of-Things.

Investable was launched in 2014 by NEST, a Hong Kong incubator.

Fundnel

Fundnel is an investment crowdfunding platform based in Hong Kong and Singapore aimed at connecting promising startups to fundraising opportunities via an online community of entrepreneurs, professionals and investors.

The platform offers unlisted securities in growth and pre-IPO stage companies across industries to a qualified network of investors, comprising of both professional (corporate venture, private equity, venture capital funds, family offices, angel investor networks) and individually accredited investors actively looking to diversify their current portfolio.

Gatecoin

Founded in 2013, Gatecoin is a regulated online trading platform for cryptocurrency and blockchain assets enabling individuals and institutions around the world to trade and invest in bitcoin, ether (ethereum) and other financial assets linked to blockchain technology.

Based and licensed in Hong Kong as a Money Service Operator, Gatecoin offers fiat currency transfers in HKD, EUR, USD and CNY. The platform is designed, monitored and audited by top security experts in order to prevent theft of client assets and information.

Featured picture via pixabay