Singaporean fintech startup 4xLabs secures $1.5m for global expansion

By Jack Ellis for TIA

Singapore-based 4xLabs closed a pre-series A round worth US$1.5 million, it announced today.

Dymon Asia Ventures participated in the financing, following up on its earlier involvement in 4xLabs’ US$1 million seed round. There were also investments from newcomers, including Malaysia’s OSK Ventures International.

The fintech startup develops currency exchange software for financial services companies. It says it will use the investment to fund product development and global growth.

“The cash foreign exchange market is a growth market, and we believe in the relevance of providing technology to the 100,000 money changers globally that create liquidity in these markets,” said Christiaan Kaptein, principal at Dymon Asia Ventures, in a statement.

OSK’s executive director Patrick Yee said that 4xLabs’ focus on accelerating fintech adoption in the regional foreign exchange community “stood out.” It is not the only player in this corner of the space though. Kuala Lumpur-based CurrenSeek is one key competitor that also offers an app-based currency exchange rate comparison service.

Since launching in 2011, 4xLabs has released Get4x, a location-based exchange rate aggregator that lets travellers compare rates offered by nearby licensed money changers, rather than using official exchange rates provided by banks.

Get4x is currently available in 13 cities across territories including Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. It also specifically targets tourism centers such as Bali, Pattaya, and Phuket.

More recently, the company launched Biz4x, a software platform that is linked to Get4x and includes live foreign exchange rates, a compliance database, and a point-of-sale system for managing transactions, customer records, and inventory. 4xLabs claims that Biz4x is “currently used by hundreds of money changers in more than 10 countries worldwide,” and that 40 percent of Singapore’s money changers had subscribed to the service within a year of its launch.