Checkbox, a multi-award winning platform that enables the digital transformation of regulation and compliance processes into business applications in the cloud, was named Best in Show following a live pitch competition at this year’s Next Money Fintech Finals in Hong Kong. The event is brought to you by Visa, with support from Gold Sponsors, Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and Senjō Group, as part of the StartmeupHK Festival. In total, 22 startups from around the world had four minutes each to pitch their business in front of a live audience to a panel of judges drawn from across the fintech community.  The…

The CareVoice, a consumer-centric health insurtech start-up redefining healthcare and the insurance experience for people in China, announced  it has raised over $2 million USD in early growth capital. The investment will be used to fuel its insurance business lines, accelerate technology development, consolidate its leadership in China’s major cities and expand to Southeast Asia. The funding round has been co-led by two China- and US-based VCs, Haitao Capital and SOSV, and involved local Chinese and Southeast Asian healthcare investors. “The CareVoice’s offering is well-timed with the exploding demand for mid-to-high health plans in China. It is a powerful solution…

A new powerful alliance was launched to help support local start-ups in the Hong Kong Fintech sector. The CSI Alliance – with Cyberport, the Smart City Consortium and IBM China/Hong Kong Ltd as its core members – will connect and foster collaboration between technology, academic and commercial stakeholders to address issues faced by FinTech start-ups and help accelerate their growth. Research by InvestHK shows Hong Kong’s start-up ecosystem has been expanding rapidly, with the number of companies increasing 24% and staff by 41% year-on-year according to a recent survey*. While this is a testament to the strong network of the city’s incubators, accelerators and the…

Invest Hong Kong announced details of its UK Fintech Awards 2018, organized in conjunction with the UK’s Department for International Trade, to tap the rich seam of Fintech talent in the UK and showcase the exciting opportunities Hong Kong presents as a conduit to Asia. The Awards are open for submissions from today (January 22) and close at 18:00 GMT on February 23. The best entries will be shortlisted to participate in a pitching competition judged by sector experts from both the UK and Hong Kong. The winners of the two grand prizes and other prizes of the Awards will be announced at…

Real estate consultancy JLL is taking its next step in advancing property technology – or proptech – by leading a US$3.8 million Series A funding for Indian start-up Foyr, a technology platform for visualization and customisation of interior space. The investment is along with other individual and non-institutional investors. “The future of our industry lies in using technology to enhance the way we invest in, manage and occupy real estate. Foyr’s cutting-edge solutions, which blend virtual reality and real-time market intelligence, offer a unique, immersive experience,” says Albert Ovidi, Chief Operating Officer, JLL Asia Pacific. “We started our journey with…

The Irish award-winning ‘Deloitte FinTech Company of the Year’ Global Shares – a global provider of equity compensation software solutions – announced the official opening of its new Hong Kong office by Mr. Michael D’Arcy T.D. – Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services. The new Hong Kong office is the company’s first base in Asia, bringing to 10 the total number of Global Shares’ offices around the world including New York, Dublin, Cork, London, Edinburgh, Lisbon & Munich. Today’s announcement follows the rapid growth in Global Shares employee numbers rising from 68 staff in 2015, to 150 staff currently, and targeting a total of 228 staff members within 18…

Invest Hong Kong (announced details of the StartmeupHK Festival 2018, which will take place from January 29 to February 2 and focus on fintech, connected city, retail technology, healthtech) and a new theme of the “Internet of Life” this year. The festival will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, with more than 100 industry experts involved in panel sessions, interactive discussions, speaking events and competitions. InvestHK’s StartmeupHK Venture Forum on day one is the week’s flagship event, offering a unique opportunity to hear from and interact with globally acclaimed entrepreneurs, industry leaders and policymakers through keynote…

HSBC held mid of December the HSBC Safeguard App Competition ‘Demo Day’ at the Bank’s Hong Kong headquarters and announced the results of the competition. Part of the HSBC Safeguard programme, a global initiative spearheading the Bank’s efforts to fight financial crime, the competition attracted proposals from tertiary students and start-ups in response to real-world challenges relating to how banks ensure they have up-to-date customer information. Today’s event was hosted by Ms. Diana Cesar, Chief Executive, Hong Kong, HSBC, who said: “Up-to-date customer information is critical for banks in preventing criminals from accessing the financial system. The HSBC Safeguard App Competition…

The Digital Hub in Hong Kong is the latest addition to UBS’s digital centres around the world. It is a space for clients and prospects to engage, network, and share knowledge with tech start-ups and experts. It is a forum in which they can explore the technologies that, increasingly, are becoming central to their businesses and personal lives. Situated in our Kowloon office, the Digital Hub has hosted over 500 visitors since its inception in June this year. It is designed to: Help clients and prospects to explore how technologies are affecting their industry. Bring clients and startups closer together…

Prudential Hong Kong Limited (“Prudential”) today announced two new additions to its digital transformation line-up that harness automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and other technological innovations in order to provide a more personalized and accessible experience to customers. Launched today, eClaims is Hong Kong’s pioneering electronic claims submission system that covers all types of individual hospital claims. It is a new self-service customer platform that enables customers to both submit their hospital claims electronically and get instant claims status updates, making insurance claims an easier and hassle-free experience. Following a pilot rollout to financial consultants in August this year, Prudential will…

Lion Rock FinTech Limited (“Lion Rock”), a Hong Kong-based FinTech company announces that it has raised HK$50 million (6.4Mio USD)  in an equity financing led by Marathon Venture Partners. 9F Inc., the strategic investor who backed Lion Rock’s last round of financing, continued to invest in this round. The NYSE-listed FinTech company, Yirendai, participated in this round as a new strategic investor. This is a benchmark venture capital financing in the Hong Kong FinTech industry. The transaction is subject to approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”). Upon completion, Lion Rock will own Noble Apex Advisors Ltd.,…

The imminent arrival of PSD2 (championing open banking), has seen a mind-shift within banking in 2017. And payments are no exception. At Sibos 2017, I noticed that banks now realize there is a real benefit in working with fintechs. Banks are back to doing what they do best; focusing on their customers. Trusted third parties (TTP) can offer the services banks need to do this. Everyone is happy. Author: Darryl Proctor, Product Director, Transaction Banking and Payments for Temenos. Our 2017 Transaction Banking Survey, further echoed this; 57%, of 100 banks interviewed, already work with TTPs to improve existing bank…

WeLab, one of the fastest growing fintech companies in Greater China, announced last month that it has raised US$220 million of combined Series B+ equity and debt strategic financing and has won the backing of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other global banks. The financing brings WeLab’s total funding to US$425 million and marks a significant milestone for the Hong Kong-based company whose early backers included CK Hutchison’s TOM Group, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s best-known investment firms. This follows WeLab’s US$160 million Series B financing…

Thomson Reuters is partnering with the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) to help accelerate the development of FinTech innovation by bringing technology, tools and content to the Innovation Hub launched jointly by ASTRI and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). ASTRI was established in 2000 by the Hong Kong government to enhance Hong Kong’s global competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research.  The HKMA-ASTRI Innovation Hub was launched last year to facilitate the development and adoption of FinTech by the financial services industry. Thomson Reuters will support innovative solutions being developed there by providing access to…

Adyen rolled out WeChat Pay, one of the most popular mobile payment apps in China, allowing Adyen merchants to offer WeChat Pay on their point-of-sale terminals worldwide. This is a key addition to Adyen’s unified commerce solution. Since 2016, consumers have been able to buy goods online using WeChat Pay through the Adyen platform; now, they can do the same in brick-and-mortar stores. The addition of WeChat Pay means that Adyen merchants can now accept payments from China’s three largest payment providers, including Alibaba’s Alipay and China UnionPay (UPI). WeChat has 1.3 billion users, 400 million of whom use WeChat Pay…

Financial Risk Solutions (FRS), a Dublin-based provider of unit-linked investment administration and compliance oversight software, is pleased to announce the opening of two offices in Asia;  Hong Kong and Malaysia. These are the first offices outside of Europe for the business. The decision is the result of research into strategic growth in the region.  FRS met 25 life insurance firms and 15 asset managers across Asia over 18 months, to understand their specific investment administration and oversight requirements. The research identified that Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) or Investment-linked Insurance Plans (ILPs) are growing at a significant pace. This brings challenges for life…

Wesurance, a Hong Kong-based InsurTech startup, takes the city’s insurance sector into a new era with the launch of the industry’s first mobile platform for insurance services in partnership with Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd and TransUnion. The platform makes it easy for Hong Kong’s mobile savvy consumers to access travel insurance-on-the-go, allowing them to buy policies and make claims conveniently and securely within minutes using their smartphones. Making claims is much easier and more intuitive with an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered personal assistant, Amy, who will walk customers through the process. Consumers can say goodbye to all the traditional claim…

Regulatory authorities around the world are grappling with the rapidly spreading phenomenon of issuers raising funds by selling cryptocurrency ‘coins’ or ‘tokens’ (coins) which may give holders certain rights, or may only have purely speculative value. Most regulators now take the firm view that if coins function like a security or other investment product, they will be brought into the ambit of existing securities laws. In this  Client Alert Baker McKenzie examines the recent regulatory response to ICOs in Australia as well as other jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The evolution of ICOs The cryptocurrency phenomenon sweeping through the internet owes much…

The Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2017 (CVCF) successfully concluded s. The two-day (1-2 November) forum has gathered the world’s influential venture capitalists, investors, key industry players and stakeholders as well as digital tech start-ups at Cyberport to share insights on successful tech venture cases and global tech investment trends. As a key advocate of the start-up ecosystem in Hong Kong, Cyberport hosted the CVCF and brought leading investors and tech start-ups under one roof to foster more investment matching and business collaboration opportunities. The Hon. Nicholas W Yang, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong SAR Government, joined…

SouChe (literally meaning Search Car in Chinese) announced that it has closed its Series E funding round led by Alibaba with participation from Warburg Pincus, Primavera Capital and CMB International. This round is less than 12 months from the $100 million Series C round in November 2016 led by Ant Financial, and less than 6 months from the $180 million Series D round in April 2017 led by Warburg Pincus. Cygnus Equity was the sole financial advisor to SouChe for this round. After this round of financing, Alibaba will become the biggest institutional investor for SouChe. The two companies will deepen their existing cooperation by sharing more resources and…