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Treasury & Capital Markets
VC fintech fundraising in Asia set for record-breaking year
Venture capital fundraising for fintechs in Asia is on track to break the record US$6.3 billion raised in 2016
Darryl Yu 10 Nov 2017

VENTURE Capital fintech fundraising is set to reach new heights by the end of 2017, looking set to break the record US$6.3 billion raised in 2016. For 2017, the region already crossed the US$5 billion mark at the end of September, according to data from CB Insights.

One recent fundraising involved mobile lending company WeLab, which got a US$220 million nod of approval from the likes of Alibaba and the International Finance Corp. The company, which is already supported by CK Hutchison and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, is just one of a number of Asian fintechs to have gained support over the past year.

“With a specific focus in developing innovation and entrepreneurship in Hong Kong, we invest in promising Hong Kong companies with groundbreaking business models and technologies,” says Cindy Chow, executive director of Alibaba’s Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.

Despite the industry’s momentum, corporate participation in Asian fintech deals dropped to a five-quarter-low. Data from CB Insights show that corporates only represent 25% of the total Asian investment into fintechs. This could indicate that incumbent players are still holding a conservative view when looking at new kinds of financial solutions.

Just as in previous years, Asian fintech fundraising was anchored by seed and Series A investments, according to CB Insights.

Further afield, venture capital firms globally allocated around US$12.2 billion in fintech companies YTD September-end, ranging from payments to blockchain technology. This follows a consistent show of support for the industry which raised only US$8 billion in 2014.

Venture capital support for blockchain technologies continued to grow, hitting a five-quarter-high in Q3 2017 with companies in that segment raking in US$301 million globally. Blockchain deals were driven by San Francisco-based Coinbase, which received US$100 million during its recent Series D fundraising round.

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