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392

Media-for-equity for fintech startups: the new way to raise funds

Vladislav Solodkiy, managing partner, Life.SREDA VC

Media for equity is an innovative form of venture capital in which advertising inventory supplied by media partners is provided to startups in return for equity. These days, media for equity is the talk of the town. Why? Incumbent media companies are seeing (or have been seeing for the past 7–8 years) their traditional advertising revenues contract and are looking for what they call diversification revenues (hence their backing of startups that can benefit from a boost from a media partner — air time, partnerships, licensing, you name it). Additionally, success stories are increasingly fuelling their appetite to come back for more of these deals. On the flip side, advertising on TV is a pretty interesting and effective way for a consumer-facing (mobile) startup to gain access to a mass market. (more…)

Deals, Hotnews, InspirAsia

March 24, 2017

333

Central bank of Singapore wants to set up new framework for investment funds

By  for TechinAsia

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) continues to make it easier for investors to set up new funds and operate in the city-state. Today it announced it has opened a public consultation on a new corporate structure for investment funds. People can submit their comments on a number of questions posed in the consultation paper. (more…)

Global trends, Government activities, Hotnews, Payment processors/providers/gateways, Singapore

March 23, 2017

229

Octopus Ventures Raises €120M AI Focused Venture Capital Fund

Octopus Ventures, a London, UK-based venture capital firm, has raised £120m for a new fund dedicated to investing in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence startups in the UK. (more…)

Deals, Global trends, Hotnews

March 23, 2017

231

Amazon delays its entry into Southeast Asia

By Jon Russel for TC

Amazon has postponed its much-anticipated entry into Southeast Asia. The company initially planned to launch local e-commerce services in Singapore during the first quarter of this year, as we reported in November, but two sources with knowledge of the plans told TechCrunch that the schedule has slipped to “later this year”. (more…)

Global trends, Hotnews

March 23, 2017

238

Revolut to undertake £4 million crowdfund raise; launches subscription service

Revolut is taking a leaf out of Amazon’s playbook, launching a Prime-like subscription account that gives members cheaper deals and the opportunity to participate in a forthcoming crowdfunding raise. (more…)

Deals, Global trends, Hotnews, Payment processors/providers/gateways, Remittances

March 23, 2017

397

SAP Ariba Will Use Blockchain to Track Shipments, Ensure Authenticity

By Tom Groenfeldt for Forbes,

SAP Ariba, which connects 2.5 million buyers and sellers around the world through its network, today announced it will offer blockchain record-keeping across its cloud-based applications and business network. (more…)

Blockchain, Global trends, Hotnews

March 23, 2017

343

Malaysia’s Jirnexu raises $1.5 million for fintech software

by  for VB

Malaysian fintech startup Jirnexu has raised $1.5 million in funding from DMP, Gobi Partners, and OSK Ventures International Berhad (OSKVI). (more…)

Deals, Hotnews, InspirAsia, Malaysia

March 23, 2017

183

Amazon Plans a Big Acquisition in the Middle East

Amazon .com has agreed in principle to buy 100% of Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com from its shareholders, sources familiar with the deal said on Wednesday. (more…)

Deals, Fintech news, Global trends, Hotnews

March 23, 2017

522

Solarisbank raises $28 million with sights set on Asian market

By BI Inteligence,

While the US and European fintech markets seem to have stalled, Asia continues to show robust growth. (more…)

Banks, Deals, Hotnews

March 22, 2017

230

Goldman building robo-adviser to tap mass affluent client segment

GOLDMAN Sachs Group, known for advising the world’s richest and most powerful, is building a so-called robo-adviser geared to mass affluent customers, according to a job listing posted Monday on the bank’s website. (more…)

Banks, Global trends, Hotnews

March 22, 2017

447

Samsung Pay beats Apple and Google to launch mobile payments service in India

By Paul Sawers for VentureBeat,

Samsung has launched its mobile payments service in India. (more…)

eWallets, Global trends, Hotnews, India

March 22, 2017

737

All 51 startups that debuted at Y Combinator W17 Demo Day 2

By , , ,

Over 15,000 founders from 7,200 startups applied to this batch of Y Combinator. It chose just over 100 with founders from 22 countries to go through its accelerator program. Today, the second half of those companies launched on stage, and we have breakdowns of all 51 of these businesses. (more…)

Deals, Global trends, Hotnews

March 22, 2017

295

Yes Bank taps Silicon Valley’s Payjo for chat-based mobile assistant

Disruptive technologies lead to better customer experiences – from Internet to touch screens. (more…)

Banks, Hotnews

March 21, 2017

248

Industry 4.0: The Five Steps Towards A Digital Supply Chain

by Stefan Schrauf, Philipp Berttram and Morten Grunwald

If the vision of Industry 4.0 is to be realized, most enterprise processes — manufacturing, product development, customer relations, and the workplace itself — must become fully digitized. A critical element will be the arrival of the digital supply chain. (more…)

Hotnews, SME

March 21, 2017

205

Alibaba Says Its Latest Acquisition Is Part of a ‘Big Entertainment Strategy’

By Reuters,

China’s Alibaba Group Holding has fully acquired online ticketing platform Damai.cn, the e-commerce giant said on Tuesday, marking a further push into entertainment by the firm as it expands beyond its core online retail business. (more…)

China, Deals, Hotnews

March 21, 2017

193

‘Father Of P2P’ Giles Andrews Now Leads Two Alt Lenders

By PYMNTS

Alternative SME lending platform MarketInvoice has named Giles Andrews as its first chairman, and according to reports, that means Andrews will chair the board of not one, but two alternative lending platforms. (more…)

Fintech news, Hotnews, p2p/online lending, SME

March 21, 2017

282

Exclusive: Life.SREDA to set up $20m fintech fund in Malaysia

By Shiwen Yup for DSA

Singapore-based LifeSREDA.VC, a fintech venture capital (VC) firm with Russian roots, announced that they are launching a fintech fund for startups for the amount of $20 million as a first close, provided by local LPs frim Malaysia. In addition, the VC firm will be involved in opening a co-working space in Malaysia’s commercial capital of Kuala Lumpur. The fund will have its first close at $20 million, with LifeSREDA aiming to reach a hard close of $50 million by the end of the year.  (more…)

Hotnews, InspirAsia, Malaysia

March 21, 2017

685

Life.SREDA Partner Thomas Labenbacher named in the top 30 Fintech influencers in Austria

Fintech Austria and Fintechnews.sg have conducted a list of the top 30 fintech experts, entrepreneurs and influencers in Austria and included in a top list Life.SREDA’s partner Thomas Labenbacher.

Congrads Thomas!:) (more…)

Hotnews

March 3, 2017

1190

Ayannah launches Juan Credit™, an AI-powered Credit Scoring Service for the Unbanked in Emerging Markets

Manila, Philippines – Press release

Ayannah, the leading provider of affordable and accessible digital financial services for emerging markets has partnered with Bayad Center, the bills payment subsidiary of Meralco, the Philippines’ largest electric utility to launch Juan Credit™, the first artificial intelligence-powered credit scoring system for the unbanked in emerging markets.  (more…)

Hotnews, InspirAsia, p2p-payments, Remittances

March 2, 2017

594

Ayannah launches an AI-powered Credit Scoring Service for the Unbanked

By

Ayannah, a provider of affordable and accessible digital financial services for emerging markets, has partnered with Bayad Center, the bills payment subsidiary of Meralco, the Philippines’ largest electric utility to launch Juan Credit™, the first artificial intelligence-powered credit scoring system for the unbanked in emerging markets. (more…)

Credit scoring, Deals, Fintech news, Hotnews, Mobile payments/banking, Philippines, Remittances

February 21, 2017

413

Global fintech funding plunges in 2016 but expected to regain momentum in 2017

By Finextra

Funding for fintech companies around the world plummeted in 2016, with American and European firms experiencing a particularly sharp drop in investment, according to a report from KPMG and CB Insights which nevertheless predicts a bumper 2017. (more…)

Deals, Fintech news, Global trends, Hotnews, Marketing Report

February 21, 2017

360

UK Government to host international fintech conference as Brexit shadow looms

By Finextra

The UK Government is to host an international fintech conference in April in a bid to attract more investment into London’s financial technology hub. (more…)

Fintech news, Hotnews

January 27, 2017

518

Investors and VCs in Bitcoin and Blockchain in Asia

By

Financial institutions are lining up behind blockchain, a technology that promises to make business processes more efficient and cut costs.

In the first nine months of 2016, some US$1.4 billion had been invested globally in blockchain startups, according to PwC, highlighting the craze surrounding the technology. (more…)

Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Deals, Fintech news, Hotnews, InspirAsia

January 26, 2017

1304

Singapore’s FinTech Industry Is on the Way to Global Leadership

By Elena Mesropyan for LTP

“Singapore has established an enviable position as a leading Asian financial technology center with an exciting innovation ecosystem, a great talent pool and fantastic infrastructure. It also boasts a business-friendly environment so it was therefore an obvious winner when considering locations for new headquarters for our global operations,” said, Yoshio Tomiie, Head of Commerce at Senjō Group, a privately held investment firm, at the unveiling of the company’s new global HQ in Singapore. (more…)

AI / Machine Learning / Big Data, Blockchain, Crowdfunding/investing, Cryptocurrencies, Financial Markets / Trading, Fintech news, Hotnews, Insurance, Mobile payments/banking, p2p/online lending, Payment processors/providers/gateways, RegTech, Remittances, Security, Singapore

January 26, 2017

2250

The Top 10 Insurtech Trends For 2017 That Set The Digital Insurance Agenda

By Roger Peverelli and Reggy de Feniks

The beginning of the year is usually the time to predict key trends for the year to come, and so it goes with the insurtech sector as well. Most lists focus on the latest sexy technologies and applications, but after a year, we find these have hardly gained any traction, so cannot really be considered “trends”. To call something a key trend, new and innovative isn’t enough. It requires adoption at scale. We therefore decided to take a different approach, resulting in quite a different kind of list. (more…)

About, Fintech news, Global trends, Hotnews, Insurance

January 18, 2017

2210

BAAS.IS, India FinTech, SE Asia Startups and FemTech Discussion at Life.SREDA Event Singapore

By LTP

It was a full house and many people were standing at the back and on the sides of the room. November 14, 2016, was the first day of the Singapore FinTech festival and Life.SREDA hosted a special event to discuss some real challenges of FinTech development in Asia and the steps to be taken towards building a successful FinTech ecosystem. The main topics discussed during the event were Bank-as-a-Service and open API banking as the way to address existing challenges and to make a substantial impact on the success of the FinTech ecosystem. The event saw prominent figures from the FinTech industry share their thoughts along with panel discussions. (more…)

About, Banks, Fintech news, Hotnews, InspirAsia, Singapore

December 2, 2016

2178

Word Life.SREDA means … ecosystem!!!

By Khushi Mehrotra – Life.SREDA VC & InspirAsia Accelerators

We believe ecosystems are very important to be successful in the FinTech space. We spend a fair bit of time thinking through how we can accelerate the development of communities. There are many types of communities we believe are important in development of the ecosystem. These range from start-up community, education community, investor community, mentor community etc. Through structured thought provoking discussions in the various community events we not only contribute our perspectives but also help in connecting the various dots together. This helps in generating a level of trust in the ecosystem. (more…)

Fintech news, Global trends, Hotnews, InspirAsia

November 29, 2016

2203

FinTech in China: A 53-Point Summary

By Gaurav Sharma for LTP

If there is a FinTech version of Silicon Valley, it is China, Period. Today, there is no equivalent of China in the FinTech world. Having spent the past several months in China, here are some observations/insights from the FinTech scene in China: (more…)

Analytics, China, Fintech news, Hotnews

November 29, 2016

1149

Which Are the Top 3 Hottest FinTech Hubs Worldwide?

By Elena Mesropyan for LTP

While we have been brushing through the world’s hottest FinTech hubs, we haven’t really looked at them in a comparative manner. Meanwhile, every hub is unique and carries hallmarks of its history of growth and development affected by distinctive forces. Those forces shape unique strengths and weaknesses and determine the course of future development and types of innovations that will be bred in a particular hub. (more…)

Fintech news, Government activities, Hong Kong, Hotnews, Marketing Report, Singapore

November 26, 2016

723

Advice for banks how to dive through the FinTech revolution: Consumer Banking (tech reloaded)

By Thomas Labenbacher, partner of Life.SREDA VC

I first heard Consumer Banking 15+ years ago, when I started with GE Capital Consumer Finance. The majority of people are using Retail Banking instead of Consumer Banking. Consumer Banking is defined as the provision of services by a bank to individual consumers. That needs to become the vision of bank again in order to navigate through the digital transformation from traditional banking to digital banking (more…)

Banks, Fintech news, Global trends, Hotnews

November 23, 2016