Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to build the open metaverse, announced that it has raised about US$358.8 million at a pre-money valuation of US$5 billion. The round was led by Liberty City Ventures, with other investors including 10T Holdings, C Ventures, Delta Fund, Gemini Frontier Fund, Gobi Partners Greater Bay Area, Kingsway, L2 Capital, Mirae Asset, Pacific Century Group, ParaFi Capital, Provident, Senator Investment Group, Sequoia China, Smile Group, Stable Asset Management, Soros Fund Management, Wildcat Capital Management, Winklevoss Capital, and others. The company said that the new capital will be used to…

The 15th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) opened to explore a sustainable future for the world’s economy. AFF 2022 was a highlight event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the HKSAR. The two-day online forum featured 60 sessions including keynote speeches and in-depth discussions along with an array of activities such as exhibitions and the AFF Deal Flow Matchmaking Session. Under the theme “Navigating the Next Normal towards a Sustainable Future”, more than 170 global business leaders, policymakers, financial and wealth management…

Refinitiv has created a global community for developers in the financial industry. In continuing its longstanding history as a leader of innovation and open tech, the Refinitiv Developer Community offers practical support for today’s business challenges. This community offers enterprise developers access to capabilities, tools, interactive information, learning materials, events and global community. Refinitiv encourages broad, as well as in-depth, engagement with data. To enable efficient work with data we offer guides and insights to navigate Refinitiv API. Some of the Developer Community’s most popular resources are engaging events, blogs and webinars, of which the latter are available on demand. An in-favour…

The metaverse frenzy is sweeping across Asia, attracting interest from tech giants, electronics manufacturers and investors. At CES 2022, an annual consumer electronics trade show that took place earlier this month, Asian firms ranging from LG and Panasonic to automotive manufacturer Hyundai, showcased their latest developments on metaverse technologies, demonstrating their ambition to play a key role in this futurist reality. South Korean electronics company LG presented several metaverse startups it is working with under an incubation program, including iQ3, a company that builds applications and services for enterprises in the metaverse, and I3M, which specializes in immersive digital experiences.…

Wallyt, a Hong Kong-based digital payment and open banking solutions provider, has partnered with the Philippines’ Asia United Bank (AUB) to launch a card payment acceptance solution for merchants via a card QR code or link. Through the strategic partnership, AUB PayMate’s merchants can accept Mastercard payments without incurring additional cost for the payment terminal just by enabling them with a secure card QR code or link. With the new payment option for AUB PayMate merchants, customers only need to use a smartphone camera to scan the card QR code displayed at the AUB PayMate merchants’ stores. The customer will…

Hong Kong continues to pursue its fintech ambitions, accelerating efforts related to regtech and central bank digital currency (CBDC). Meanwhile, the city’s eight virtual banks are seeing strong consumer uptake as they continue expanding their product offerings. Fintech News Hong Kong’s newly released Hong Kong Fintech Report 2022 looks at key developments in the space that occurred in 2021 and share emerging trends to watch out for. In particular, the report delves into three key themes that emerged this year – CBDC, regtech and virtual banking –, gives an overview of the fintech startup landscape and outlines some of the…

Over 300 fintech companies from 49 global economies have received support from Global Fast Track 2021, a business-driven programme at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2021. 89 top fintech firms were subsequently selected to further benefit from the programme. Designed to help fintech companies from all over the world scale in Hong Kong and Asia, the programme consists of business matchings of fintech firms with corporates and investors, a pitching competition, regulators’ and mentors’ sessions, and a variety of soft landing programmes offered by the programme’s partners. Global Fast Track is led by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), and delivered by FINNOVASIA.…

Home to more than 470 fintech companies, Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic fintech hubs in the world. Despite the ongoing economic challenges of the global pandemic, the past year has seen Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem returning optimistic results as the government and regulators continued to roll out new measures and initiatives to boost the growth of the sector. Hong Kong fintech funding Reflective of global trends, fintech funding activity in Hong Kong surged in 2021. The Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) estimates that US$68.8 billion was raised in the first seven months of the year alone. In comparison,…

Asia-Pacific is propelling the retail industry, generating about three-quarters of global growth. By 2025, Asia Pacific’s e-commerce sales are expected to nearly double and reach US$ 2 trillion. This unprecedented and accelerated growth is great news for merchants across Asia, the reality however is, that the bigger a merchant grows, the more complex the payment infrastructure becomes. The larger and more successful a merchant becomes, the more painful they find it to optimise and run their payment platform the way they want. As soon as a business expands to the point that a single payment provider cannot serve its needs,…

South Korean payments startup CHAI raised US$45 million during a Series B+ funding round that was co-led by SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) and Nyca Partners. SBVA’s participation in this funding round marks their second Series B investment into CHAI. The round also received additional participation from investors such as KT Investment, Conductive Ventures, Nordstar Capital, Samsung NEXT and B Capital. CHAI said that it will use this funding to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and develop a fully automated end-to-end payment infrastructure for digital merchants throughout Asia. Founded in 2019, CHAI aims to bridge the payments gap in Asian…

The Asian Financial Forum (AFF) is an annual signature event held in Hong Kong every January to promote collaboration in the Asia’s financial industry and will be returning on 10-11 Jan 2022. Marking its 15th edition, this year’s Asian Financial Forum will provide the participants with a dual in-person and virtual experience. Selected sessions and exhibitions will be held physically at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 10 Jan 2022, while all sessions and exhibitions will be available on the AFFs virtual platform over the course of the two-day event. Under the theme of “Navigating the Next Normal…

Hong Kong-based venture accelerator firm Brinc announced the closing of its US$30 million Series B fundraise led by Hong Kong unicorn Animoca Brands, a prolific investor in NFT-centric and Web 3.0 companies. Additionally, Brinc also received a further US$100 million for startup investments. The new capital will fuel Brinc’s global platform expansion across new locations and verticals – allowing more investors and corporate partners to leverage funds, accelerators and bespoke-deal sourcing to access high-quality investment opportunities and emerging technologies in food, health, energy, climate and deep tech. In addition, the capital will enable Brinc’s expansion into Web 3.0 including the…

OPSWAT is a global leader in IT, OT and ICS critical infrastructure cybersecurity solutions and Deep Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR), protecting the world’s mission-critical organizations from malware and zero-day attacks. More than 1,500 organizations worldwide trust OPSWAT to secure their files and devices; ensure compliance with industry and government-driven policies. We recently had the opportunity to talk to Victoria Huang, Marketing Campaign Manager for OPSWAT and learn more about her career journey and why OPSWAT is a great place to build your career. What led you to OPSWAT? I joined OPSWAT in July 2020 as a marketing campaign manager,…

Hong Kong digital tech park Cyberport announced that fifteen of its members have received awards as part of the biennial Deloitte Hong Kong Technology Fast and Rising Star Programme. Local unicorn company and longtime Cyberport community member Animoca Brands was selected as one of the two Technology Fast Leader award recipients this edition. Additionally, Cyberport community startups accounted for seven of the top ten Tech Fast award winners this edition, covering fintech and smart living companies. The seven startups were AsiaTop Loyalty, Starling Lab, HelloToby Technology (HK), HK Decoman Technology, Set Sail Venture, Pakpobox Hong Kong, and GoGoChart Technology. Hong…

Bank of China Group Insurance (BOCG Insurance) announced that it has joined forces with international actuarial and consulting firm Milliman as well as Hong Kong’s insurtech firm CoverGo. The partnership was formed to streamline BOCG Insurance’s motor insurance ecosystem and customer experience. BOCG Insurance has engaged Milliman to implement new rates for motor products, through advanced actuarial and machine learning techniques. Meanwhile, CoverGo will provide its insurance platform to build products faster with no-code, increase distribution through new digital portals, and improve policy and claims admin through automation. BOCG Insurance said that its agents and customers can now purchase motor…

The Insurance Authority (IA), Hong Kong’s insurance regulator, is exploring the development of an open application programming interface (API) framework and has established a working group focused on the initiative, Tony Chan, the associate director of policy and development at the IA, said in a keynote speech at a recent event. The plans were shared during the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong (ASHK)’s 19th Appointed Actuaries Symposium on November 23, 2021, during which Chan stressed the need to foster greater collaboration among insurers, third-party service providers and regulators. Some insurers are already utilizing API technology to facilitate connectivity between their…

Global Fintech-as-a-Service platform Rapyd announced that it has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Neat, a cross-border trade enabling platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is subject to regulatory approval. Neat provides full company incorporation, business accounts, global payment collection and disbursements, as well as credit card-based capital expansion services. According to Rapyd, by integrating Neat into its global payments network, SMBs will be able to incorporate new companies in minutes, streamline receivables and payables in a single venue, starting with Hong Kong and soon in other markets. Additionally,…

With data becoming a core business asset for financial companies, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) continues to be a focal point in maximising the competitive advantage of this ‘new oil’. This is according to a new study by LSEG Labs, The Defining Moment for Data Scientists, on the applications of AI/ML in financial services. The study found that the adoption of AI/ML within organisations has remained steady since 2018. Over the last three years, between 40-50% of respondents reported deploying AI/ML in multiple areas. The survey is based on responses from 482 data scientists, quants, model governance professionals and…

AngelHub, an SFC-regulated tech investment platform and sister-company of WHub, announced that it has secures US$ 3 million from Animoca Brands and its existing investor Kharis Capital. The new funding will accelerate AngelHub’s deployment in tech companies, grow WHub’s corporate partnership ecosystem and fuel its international expansion. Hong Kong-based blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands joined forces with AngelHub in order to drive the democratisation of investment in blockchain companies. Both companies entered into a strategic partnership to bring more blockchain investment opportunities through AngelHub. The focus will be on companies in the metaverse, DeFI, NFT and digital infrastructure. As of now,…

Virtual bank WeLab announced the acquisition of PT Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ), a commercial bank in Indonesia, with plans to launch its second digital bank in the second half of 2022 following its successful launch in Hong Kong. Headquartered in Hong Kong, WeLab has drawn interest from existing and new investors who have already contributed US$240 million which will be used to acquire the controlling stakes from its existing shareholders and tech investments. The WeLab-led consortium, Welab Sky, has entered into a share purchase and subscription agreement with all the shareholders of BJJ. According to the agreement, WeLab Sky will…