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Verticurl and Startup-O Announce Strategic Partnership

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Partnership creates opportunity to access professional business development capabilities at scale

SINGAPORE, July 19, 2021 — Verticurl (A WPP Company) and Startup-O are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership combining Verticurl’s leading Marketing Technology Services capabilities with Startup-O’s global online platform for discovering, investing and scaling post-revenue startup technology ventures.

With B2B technology startups proliferating, early stage founders face a constant challenge to stand out from the crowd, grow their revenues and achieve the goals of their venture capital investors. In most cases, progress against these goals is self-driven or with the support of personal networks that are limited by the reach of the teams and individual investors. The Verticurl and Startup-O partnership creates the opportunity for founders to access professional business development capabilities at scale, with experienced resources that are normally the preserve of large corporations, and with a commercial model that recognises the constraints of early-stage companies.

"Verticurl was founded specifically because we knew technology was going to disrupt the marketing industry and we wanted to be at the front of it. Similarly, through our ongoing engagement with leading Corporates around the world, we see first hand the impact that new technologies are having on all Industries. As a marketing services innovator, it’s natural that we play a part in building the next generation of disruptors, but we needed an effective means to discover and engage with them, and that is what the partnership with Startup-O provides" said Ab Gaur, CEO of Verticurl. "Having seen the portfolio of companies that Startup-O has selected from its global platform of over 2000+ startups, and how it already engages with proven entrepreneurs and industry veterans, we are excited by the synergies this partnership will generate."

"Whether you are an early stage founder, or an established local player looking to expand across borders, building momentum is hard. We initially created Startup-O Edge to give deserving founders the ‘edge’ in their business development through our network of 100+ experts that have access to decision makers at 250+ Corporates. While access to these decision makers has delivered an immediate step change in business development capabilities for startups, our partnership with Verticurl creates a new set of capabilities that Startup-O Edge provides to founders" said Anuj Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Startup-O.  "Startup-O was founded to provide founders with merit based access to the resources they need to succeed. Delivering access to a renowned marketing technology services agency, is another major milestone in delivering our vision."

To learn more, visit http://www.verticurl.com and https://www.startup-o.com.

About Verticurl
Verticurl provides marketing technology services to help multinational brands implement, optimize and operate digital platforms at scale.  Acquired by WPP’s Ogilvy in 2013, the company operates in over 20 countries and staffs more than 1,200 marketing technology professionals worldwide.

About Startup-O
Startup-O is a global startup platform for assessments, investments, and cross-border business scaling.  The platform discovers deserving founders and helps them build world-class companies with venture capital and global networks.

Contact: Alicia Houston
Phone:  13308838246
Email:   alicia.houston@verticurl.com

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Registration for HICOOL 2021 Global Entrepreneurship Competition concluded, over 4,000 global projects are in head-to-head Competition

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BEIJING, July 2, 2021 — Recently, the registration for HICOOL 2021 Global Entrepreneurship Competition has concluded. After two months of project solicitation, the total number of projects registered has reached 4,018, a year-on-year increase of 98.32% compared with 2,026 of last year. A total of 5,077 applicants from 5 major competition regions of 84 countries and regions will compete with each other, among which 25% are foreign nationals. At present, the online preliminary evaluation has started. In the next two months, competitors will compete for the final prize through a series of competitions including preliminaries, semi-finals and finals.

In terms of the overall registration of this year, both the number of projects registered for the competition and the number of talents have increased compared with the same period of last year. Geographically, 3,051 projects are from the Asia-Pacific region, 520 from Europe, 339 from North America, and 70 from Oceania. In addition, there are 29 projects from Africa and 9 projects from South America. The entire competition spans 16 venues of five major competition regions, with a wide range of distribution.

Compared with that of the first year, this year’s competition opened up the domestic group for the first time, which has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of domestic entrepreneurs. Statistics showed that the number of overseas registrations is 2,115, accounting for 53% of the total. The number of domestic registrations is 1,903, accounting for 47% of the total. The projects for competition cover a wide range of disciplines and fields. This year’s competition revolves around the industrial layout of Beijing’s "14th Five-Year Plan" and focuses on the development frontiers of six major industries. Among them, areas such as the new generation of information technology, healthcare, artificial intelligence/fintech are still the mainstream in this year’s competition. In addition, the number of projects registered in the fields of cultural creativity, new energy/new materials/energy conservation and environmental protection, high-end equipment is steadily on the increase.

In terms of the project type, a total of 3,208 projects registered this year are in maker group, accounting for 80%. 810 projects are in growth group, accounting for 20%. Compared with those of the last year, all of them have presented a steady growth. In addition, the number of projects registered through recommendation of talent scout this year has reached 3,235, accounting for 81% (among which 1,800 projects are recommended by individual talent scout, accounting for 45%; 1,435 projects are recommended by institution talent scout, accounting for 36%). 783 projects registered without recommendation, accounting for 19%. On the whole, the number of projects registered through recommendation of talent scout has shown a certain upward trend this year.

In terms of the talent data, 5,077 participants this year come from 84 countries and regions including China, the United States, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Israel, Finland, South Korea, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil, Poland, Turkey and Nigeria, covering many core countries and cities around the world. In terms of the gender distribution, 77% of participants are male and 23% are female. The majority of them are still male entrepreneurs. In terms of the age distribution, entrepreneurs born in the 80s and 90s are still the main force. The entrepreneurial consciousness of the post-00s and pre-70s has gradually increased, and the number of post-70s entrepreneurs is quite stable.

In terms of the participants’ academic background, 20% are doctoral degree holders and 33% are master degree holders. Since the competition has successfully attracted the attention and won the support of many key universities around the world this year, the number of undergraduate entrepreneurs has significantly increased, accounting for 38%. In addition, participants maintain a high academic background as a whole, graduating from world-class universities such as MIT, Oxford University and Stanford University, as well as domestic first-class universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and University of Science and Technology of China.

According to the organizing committee, the projects registered this time will not only compete for various awards, but also have the opportunity to join the HICOOL ecosystem, that is, the sustainable, all-in-one solution platform created by HICOOL. With its full assistance, participants can realize their dream of innovation and entrepreneurship. The platform is aligned to the global mainstream science and technology incubation acceleration model, which integrates Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition, Service Manager, Business College, Industrial Park, Fund and HICOOL @online. Projects and talents are imported from the Summit and Competition, accelerated through Business College, and with the help of dedicated Service Manager, project development clusters at different levels will form. Industrial Park will maximize the agglomeration effect and leverage on fund investment to help startups leap forward by getting proper funding support.

HICOOL 2021 Global Entrepreneurship Competition is a global entrepreneurial competition hosted by the Beijing Overseas Talents Association. With the theme of "Connect Startups Worldwide, Innovate Beijing Together", this competition is centered on entrepreneurs, participants from overseas group and domestic group will compete for 140 awards (Out of the total prize of RMB 100 million, the 1st prize is RMB 2 million, 2nd prize RMB 1 million, 3rd prize RMB 500,000 and the honorary award RMB 200,000). Top investors and corporates as well as well-known mentors will be invited to provide counseling and facilitation for participating projects. In the meantime, the organizing committee will continue to empower Beijing entrepreneurs and offer a full range of "Beijing services" covering talent settlement, children’s education, medical coverage, and talent apartments.

For more information, please visit HICOOL.

Media Contact: fuguiping@hicool.com

PR Newswire

FTAG Group Acquires Stake in Live Streaming Startup BeLive Technology

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SINGAPORE, June 25, 2021 — FTAG Group announced today that it has acquired a significant stake in Singapore-based live streaming startup BeLive Technology. The strategic move, made via the company’s investment arm FTAG Ventures, will enhance FTAG’s own media capabilities while expanding its technology portfolio. It also makes them one of BeLive’s largest backers alongside Singapore’s national broadcasting network Mediacorp.

"The e-commerce space is huge, with e-commerce sales worldwide reaching USD4.3 trillion in 2020. The pandemic has shown us that in the new normal, e-commerce and home-based entertainment will continue to dominate global consumption," FTAG Group Chairman Kelvin Chng commented. "We see tremendous potential in this space and live shopping is the next most exciting development from here."

BeLive offers powerful live streaming solutions that boast advanced interactive features and viewer data analytics which greatly enhance the user’s experience, especially during live shopping. BeLive has been a key player in the live streaming industry since 2014, with offices in Singapore, Vietnam, and China. Key clients such as Samsung, Rakuten, Square Enix, L’Oréal Paris, and more recently, one of Indonesia’s top e-commerce marketplace Bukalapak, is testament that BeLive is at the forefront of innovation.

Meanwhile, FTAG is set to push on with further strategic acquisitions during a time when most companies are unwilling to take on risks. The firm is also currently planning a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) deal targeting technology firms in the Asia Pacific region.

About FTAG Group

Founded in 2013, FTAG Group is headquartered in Singapore and seeks to drive business innovations and revolutionise financial services with technology. With business interests spanning multiple sectors, including financial services, technology, and education, FTAG is committed to developing key technology and infrastructure that will transform our digital daily lives.

PR Newswire

Osome Raises a $16M Series A to Expand its AI-based Accounting Platform to Global Markets

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SINGAPORE, June 18, 2021 — Osome, a super-app that digitizes accounting and compliance services for SMEs, has raised $16M in a Series A funding from a group of investors including Target Global, AltaIR Capital, Phystech Ventures, S16VC, and Peng T. Ong, an angel investor. The capital enables Osome to expand its footprint internationally, as well as to fuel product integrations. 

"Back-office operations are annoying, tedious yet mission critical for businesses, especially for SMEs. Remarkably, an average entrepreneur spends 68% of their time to deal with routine tasks vs 32% to strategize and deliver on their long term goals. Osome combines artificial intelligence software with operational excellence to automate administrative, accounting, payroll and tax-related work and help entrepreneurs focus on what they can do the best – growing their business", Victor Lysenko, co-founder and CEO of Osome, says. "We strive to build a future where small business owners can fully rely on the technology in their administrative routine".

The demand for Osome services has accelerated with COVID-19 as clients recognized the importance of automation. This has led to more than 100% YoY revenue growth and $9.5M ARR with over 6,000 happy customers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK. Additionally, the company has identified a product / market fit in the fast-growing e-commerce segment and will double down on it in the next 18 months. 

Osome’s core offering is online accounting services for SMEs, especially those involved in e-commerce — аccountants take over the documents and convert them into actionable numbers, tax filings and reports, making accounting and bookkeeping service for online sellers as simple as ever.

The company also helps with business set up and provides corporate secretary services — Osome checks compliance, tracks deadlines, files documents, and answers questions in a chat at any time of the day or week. The platform categorises and stores any documents users send, so nothing is lost, and then creates and files reports on time. 

"We have supported Osome since the early days and are excited to continue our partnership in the latest round. We are especially happy about the strong growth Osome has shown in the expanding e-commerce segment. Online Sellers require unique tools and custom approaches to be serviced effectively and Osome’s mix of technology and human expertise is the perfect solution", says Mike Lobanov, GP & COO of Target Global.

Media Contact:

Safiah Alias
safiah@osome.com
+65-6589-8807

PR Newswire

Circle Completes $440 Million Financing to Drive Growth and Market Expansion

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BOSTON, May 29, 2021 — Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides payments and treasury infrastructure for internet businesses, today announced it has raised $440 million in financing from leading institutional and strategic investors.

The financing, among the top 10 in private fintech investments, fuels the company’s continued growth, organizational development and market expansion opportunities. On the heels of recruiting world-class leaders to Circle’s executive team, including Dante Disparte, as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy, Jeremy Fox-Geen, as Chief Financial Officer, Mandeep Walia as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, along with hundreds of open roles across the U.S. and around the world, Circle is now poised to meet significant global demand for its products and services aimed at marrying the existing financial system with breakthroughs in digital currency within payments and finance.

Underpinning this growth is Circle’s principal contribution in the rapid rise of USD Coin, or USDC, as the world’s most trusted and fastest growing dollar digital currency, which now stands at $22 billion in circulation. USDC has grown by 436% in 2021 alone, and over 28,000% over the past 12 months.

"As a company, Circle has remained committed to our mission of raising global economic prosperity through the power of digital currency, blockchains and breakthroughs in programmable money. The sustained global demand for our services powering the growth of USDC, as the most trusted and well regulated dollar digital currency, signals that we are one step closer to achieving our mission. With powerful backers who are committed to our mission and vision, we will redouble our efforts to expand into new markets, continue driving fundamental technology innovation and grow our team," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle co-founder and CEO.

The financing included investments from leading private equity, institutional and strategic investors, including Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Willett Advisors, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Breyer Capital, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, as well as Michael J. Price and Friends. 

"Circle has been a pioneer in unlocking the potential of blockchain-enabled payments. With USDC’s extraordinary growth, Circle has established itself at the center of a new generation of financial services and applications. We are proud to continue to partner with Circle to develop a better global financial system," said Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group.

"Circle has been an experienced player in making fiat work on blockchains for nearly eight years and has built deep capabilities to ease payments in crypto. At FTX we’re excited to partner further with Circle to help expand these capabilities to all crypto users," said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle’s platform has supported more than 100 million transactions by more than 10 million retail customers and more than 1,000 businesses. Circle is also a principal developer of USD Coin (USDC), which together with Coinbase and the Centre Consortium oversees the standards and protocol for what has become the fastest growing, regulated, fully reserved dollar digital currency. USDC now stands at more than 22 billion and has supported over $615 billion in transactions over the past year. Today, Circle’s transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through programmable internet commerce. Learn more at https://circle.com

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PR Newswire

AI Robotics Startup Mech-Mind Completes Series C Funding Led by Tech Giant Meituan

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With total funding of over USD100 million, Mech-Mind is pioneering the next frontier of manufacturing through a combination of artificial intelligence and industrial robotics

BEIJING, May 19, 2021 — Fast-growing Chinese AI industrial robotics startup, Mech-Mind Robotics ("Mech-Mind") has recently completed Series C funding led by tech giant Meituan. This latest investment brings Mech-Mind’s total funding to over USD100 million, making Mech-Mind one of the world’s most funded AI+ industrial robotics startups.

The recent investment was led by Chinese tech giant Meituan, with participation from existing investors including Sequoia Capital China and Source Code Capital.


Focused on Robotics-Infrastructure in the AI era, Mech-Mind develops a full suite of products and solutions integrating 3D camera, 3D vision and deep learning algorithms, and motion planning technology. Moving forward, Mech-Mind will leverage extensive technical strength to modernize manufacturing by breathing new life into industrial robotics.

In addition, Mech-Mind also provides comprehensive service including staff training, deployment planning, marketing support, and collaboration on challenging projects.

Tianlan Shao, Mech-Mind Robotics CEO and Founder,says, "Our products are designed to fundamentally reframe the manufacturing pain points by utilizing the practice of AI and human-robotics interaction. Our products and service already create visible business returns for nearly 1000 clients worldwide".

"Mech-Mind has developed a full infrastructure and product portfolio including 3D cameras, machine vision algorithms and software, and an intelligent robot programming environment," says Shao.

"Our products have been widely deployed, enabling us to acquire profound experience from real-life applications. Moving forward, Mech-Mind will focus on empowering robotics solutions providers and integrators to create more solutions and applications."

According to the International Federation of Robotics, the manufacturing industry remains the largest adopter of industrial robotics globally, with significant investments to adopt modern methods.


Recently, Mech-Mind launched the new generation of Mech-Eye Laser Industrial 3D Camera, which utilizes fast structured light to present high-quality 3D imaging for typical industrial applications under demanding light.

Mech-Eye Laser is suitable for factory or processing facilities with competitive price. This camera offers high level of precision, wide field of view, and easy-to-use programming setting.

With a global team of over 350 employees based in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Changsha, Qingdao, Munich, and Tokyo, Mech-Mind is committed to help clients pioneer the next frontier of manufacturing and democratize access for AI-defined robotics to small-, mid- and large-sized businesses alike.

For more information, please visit https://en.mech-mind.net/.

About Mech-Mind Robotics

Mech-Mind was founded in 2016 to put intelligence into industrial robots. Through advanced technologies including deep learning, 3D vision, and motion planning, Mech-Mind offers cost-effective solutions to palletizing and depalletizing, bin picking, order sorting, machine tending and assembly/gluing/locating in logistics and manufacturing.

Mech-Mind’s intelligent industrial robot solutions are used in automotive OEM plants, appliance plants, steel plants, food plants, logistics warehouses, banks, and hospitals in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the U.S.

Media Contact:
info@mech-mind.net

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MarTech Startup Affable.ai Raises USD 2M to Boost the Adoption of its Influencer Marketing Platform

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Investors: Prime Venture Partners, Decacorn Capital, SGInnovate

BENGALURU, India and SINGAPORE, May 18, 2021 — Singapore-based Martech startup, Affable.ai has raised USD Two Million from Prime Venture Partners, Decacorn Capital & SGInnovate. Affable’s AI-driven, Self-service SaaS platform helps brands and agencies run high impact influencer marketing campaigns. Affable brings transparency and analytics to influencer marketing and is being used by over 45 top brands and agencies including Huawei, Wipro, Pomelo, Fresh, Omnicom, Dentsu, and We Communications. The company tracks more than Three Million Influencers across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. With the fresh funding, Affable plans to expand into international markets such as the U.S.

Affable Team Members
Affable Team Members

Affable was founded by Nisarg Shah and Swayam Narain in 2017 as part of the Entrepreneur First cohort. The end-to-end Influencer Marketing Platform allows brands and agencies to streamline their influencer strategies throughout the planning, discovery, activation, and reporting phases. Affable uses advanced machine learning and big data analytics to help brands find influencers, manage and measure campaign performance. With the influencer marketing process being extremely manual, time-consuming and completely based on guesswork, Affable provides brands with data-driven insights and analytics to help streamline their micro-influencer marketing process. 

A global rise in digital consumption continues to propel influencer marketing campaigns among brands across all sectors. Being a mobile-first region along with its youthful demography and growing popularity of social platforms, Southeast Asia has become an ideal ground for influencer marketing to flourish and the market is estimated to reach $2.59 billion by 2024. Globally, the industry is very bullish and is pegged to reach $15 billion by next year. A primary reason for this growth is largely attributed to the large numbers of internet users and majority of them using smartphones. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the influencer marketing wave across the world. Cooped up at home, users are spending more time on social networking, gaming, and watching OTT content. The huge amounts of time spent online has prompted brands to work more with social media influencers on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with their consumers. Subsequently, Micro-influencers/ Micro-celebrities can drive a much higher reach at a much lower cost.

However, with up to 6X ROI on micro-influencer marketing budgets, brands are still struggling to find relevant influencers and measure their effectiveness. Traditionally, the influencer marketing process involves finding influencers, vetting audience quality, tracking & measuring results manually. Affable has not only made this process automated but also intelligent by building proprietary algorithms around its data infrastructure where it uses advanced ML and image processing models for an accurate influencer-brand mapping and measuring campaign ROIs. The platform detects fake followers, discovers follower interests and classifies social media users based on brands, fan pages etc. Affable indexes all the social media users and identifies potential influencers that a brand could work with. Using Affable, marketers can find influencers, manage them campaign-wise, and measure post-campaign analytics such as engagement from in-target audience, influencer success(as a group and individually), measure the overall effectiveness of the campaign, as well as measure clicks and sales.

Including the current funding round, Affable has raised USD 2.8M from Prime Venture Partners, Decacorn Capital, SGInnovate, Entrepreneur First and strategic angel investors. Headquartered in Singapore, the startup has 20 employees working remotely across different geographies.

Supporting Quotes

Nisarg Shah, CEO and Co-founder, Affable.ai

"We see a huge opportunity in working with brands to enable the much needed, data-driven influencer marketing campaigns. The industry-leading brands and agencies we work with reinforce our belief in the need for analytics to streamline the micro-influencer marketing process. Prime brings a depth of experience in scaling global SaaS companies, operational expertise, as well as a strong network that we can leverage during our growth phase and we are very excited to partner with them. At the same time, participation from our existing investors is a great endorsement for us."

Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners

"Data-driven analytics is the need of the hour in the influencer marketing ecosystem which is a new and upcoming marketing channel and has picked up steam in the last 3-5 years. We believe that Influencer marketing will become a mainstream marketing channel for brands with a significant budget allocation. Affable’s tech differentiation will transform the way brands and agencies interact with micro-influencers and celebrities, ensuring they get maximum RoI from their marketing campaigns. We are excited by the demand and the potential for this service and are delighted to back founders who are extremely passionate and have deep expertise in this field."

Debneel Mukherjee, Managing Partner, Decacorn Capital

"As the lead investor in Affable’s seed round, Decacorn believes that ‘prime-time’ has arrived in the AI driven influencer marketing space to effectively monetize the hyper social behavioral changes in the post millennials. We are glad to have worked closely with the Affable team over these past two years in scaling their business from a product-market fit stage to a rapidly growing 6-digit MRR as on date. In order to help Affable scale beyond Asia into the holy grail of the USA we have ponied up in Affable to the fullest extent."

About Affable

Affable is an end-to-end Influencer Marketing Platform used by leading global brands to find, manage, monitor and measure influencers seamlessly. The platform allows brands to discover, engage and measure social media influencers. Affable is developing Artificial Intelligence algorithms that profiles influencers and their audience across social media channels such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc. Affable was founded by Nisarg Shah and Swayam Narain in 2017 as part of the Entrepreneur First cohort. For further information, please visit: https://www.affable.ai/.

 

IMH Estimated Influencer Marketing Growth (YOY)
IMH Estimated Influencer Marketing Growth (YOY)

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Photo: https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/martech-startup-affable-ai-raises-usd-2m-to-boost-the-adoption-of-its-influencer-marketing-platform.jpg  
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WeLab completes initial close of Series C-1 funding, led by Allianz X for US$75 million and announces strategic partnership

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  • WeLab’s focus on technology and innovation in building a pan-Asian digital financial services platform complements Allianz’s expansion strategy with technology-focused partners in the region
  • Allianz and WeLab have established a strategic partnership with plans to develop and distribute investment and insurance solutions
  • WeLab Bank and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) intend to enter into a strategic cooperation in digital wealth management and financial services. Once implemented, WeLab Bank will be the first digital bank to deploy this wealthtech advisory technology in Asia

HONG KONG, March 8, 2021 — WeLab, a leading fintech company in Asia, today announced it has completed the initial close of Series C-1 funding, led by Allianz X for US$75 million. Allianz X is the digital investment unit of the Germany-based Allianz Group, one of the world’s largest insurers and asset managers. Since inception in 2013, WeLab has raised more than US$600 million of strategic financing from the world’s most renowned investors. WeLab and Allianz have also established a strategic partnership to drive fintech collaboration across Asia’s financial services landscape. The new funding, together with Allianz partnership, will bolster the acceleration of WeLab’s pan-Asian growth strategy and expansion of digital financial services.

WeLab completes initial close of Series C-1 funding, led by Allianz X for US$75 million and announces strategic partnership
WeLab completes initial close of Series C-1 funding, led by Allianz X for US$75 million and announces strategic partnership

WeLab operates multiple online financial services with leading positions in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Indonesia including digital banking and consumer finance businesses, with close to 50 million individual users and over 600 enterprise customers. As Asia sails into the digital banking revolution and many countries in the region are in the process of studying or implementing digital banking frameworks. WeLab is ahead of the curve, spearheading the new age of banking operating WeLab Bank in Hong Kong — one of the first fully-licensed digital banks in Asia since obtaining its license in early 2019. With its unique market knowledge and extensive network, WeLab is perfectly positioned in this strategic partnership with Allianz to take advantage of the vast opportunities in Asia where its total addressable market size for financial services is close to US$3 trillion in annual revenue. 

WeLab has achieved significant milestones in the increasingly digital COVID era

In the COVID era, the market is rapidly evolving, with accelerated digital adoption as one of the outcomes. The pandemic has transformed people’s money habits across their financial journey. The boom in digital services adoption plays into WeLab’s strength in fintech services. WeLab has emerged stronger from the pandemic with multiple businesses achieving significant milestones in the past year. For example:

  • Fueled by increased digital adoption in online financial services, WeLab’s user base grew by 20% YoY, adding around 10 million users to the current 50 million user base, the largest user growth in recent years;
  • Launching a digital-only bank during the third wave of pandemic in Hong Kong proved to be extremely timely, with WeLab Bank garnering strong traction during its first 6 months of operations;
  • WeLend, Hong Kong’s largest pure online lending platform, outperformed the market by 70% during the year to achieve its all-time record high sales volume, at a time where traditional branch operating hours and business model were severely hampered;
  • WeLab’s B2B enterprise solution platform in Mainland China doubled the number of business partners from 300 to over 600 as financial institutions move towards online financial services;
  • In Indonesia, the mobile lending platform Maucash continues to scale with increased brand recognition and popularity of online financial services in Indonesia, achieving over 6x YoY volume growth.

Partnership will accelerate growth of WeLab’s pan-Asian financial services footprint

With this round of investment and new cooperation, WeLab aims to combine its advanced digital banking technology capabilities and market know-how with Allianz’s expertise in insurance and asset management, the two partners aim to holistically improve people’s financial wellbeing. The broader strategic cooperation between WeLab and Allianz will continue to develop over time and encompasses two key areas:

  1. The rollout of pioneering digital wealth management in Asia: WeLab Bank and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) intend to enter into a strategic cooperation in digital wealth management and financial services. WeLab Bank is looking into developing and distributing digital wealth management solutions with AllianzGI, a global asset manager under Allianz, with assets under management of over EUR 582 billion*. These would aim to bridge the significant unmet investment needs in Asia, a region where only 27% of the population use financial advisors, resulting in a sizable under-advised population of over 3.4 billion. Once implemented, WeLab Bank will be the first digital bank to deploy this wealthtech advisory technology in Asia. The plan is to roll out these wealth management services to new digital customers in Hong Kong and later to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), through Wealth Management Connect, reaching the 72 million population in one of the world’s wealthiest megalopolis.

  2. New markets and new products: development and distribution of investment and insurance solutions: WeLab recognizes opportunities to widen the regional scope of its financial service offerings to other markets in which Allianz operates. For example, in the booming digital Southeast Asian economies, there are around 400 million active internet users, but over 70% of the total population is either unbanked or underbanked. There is, therefore, a lot of potential to expand the cooperation. The two companies are exploring opportunities to offer new digital investment and insurance products in the region, combining Allianz’s expertise in investment and insurance and WeLab’s network of customers and technology.

Simon Loong, Founder & Group CEO of WeLab, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Allianz as an investor and strategic partner to the WeLab Group. We see this as a first-in-market 4-way partnership where there are abundant synergies between WeLab, as a fintech leader and a pioneer in digital banking, and Allianz, as a global insurer and asset manager. More importantly, both companies share a vision on delivering advanced technology solutions to customers in Asia. Today, we announce both the new round of funding and a strategic partnership in wealthtech and banking at WeLab Bank. We look forward to expanding WeLab’s geographical presence and bringing our technology into these new markets with Allianz. We will be expediting our hiring this year, aiming to add around 100 hires, as investing in people and culture will be key to support future growth."

Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X, said, "In a relatively short amount of time, WeLab has built up a powerful platform for digital financial services and achieved excellent access to retail and business customers in Asia, a region of strategic importance for Allianz. WeLab’s high-performance technology platform, in particular, makes it a unique fintech in the Asian markets. The investment in WeLab is a promising one for Allianz both economically and strategically. We look forward to leveraging our strategic partnership with WeLab and the business potential in the region."

Desmond Ng, Head of Asia Pacific at Allianz Global Investors, said, "Asia is home to some of the most dynamic wealth management and banking markets of the world. Hong Kong, in particular, is a significant market for us. With the second-highest bank deposits per capita in the world, it is a very attractive wealth management market. The potential strategic cooperation with WeLab presents an exciting opportunity for Allianz Global Investors as an integral part of our growth strategy in Asia."

Existing investors also participated in this round, reflecting their continued conviction and confidence in WeLab. The Series C-1 round remains ongoing, with the final close expected in the coming months.

About WeLab

WeLab, a leading fintech company in Asia, operates one of the first licensed digital banks in Asia – WeLab Bank, as well as multiple online financial services with leading positions in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Indonesia, with close to 50 million individual users and over 600 enterprise customers. WeLab uses game-changing technology to help customers access credit, save money, and enjoy their financial journey.

Powered by proprietary risk management technology, patented privacy computing techniques, and advanced AI capabilities, WeLab offers mobile-based consumer financing solutions and digital banking services to retail individuals and technology solutions to enterprise customers.

WeLab operates in three markets under seven key brands, including WeLend and WeLab Bank in Hong Kong, WeLab Digital (我来数科), Taoxinji (淘新机), Wallet Gugu (钱夹谷谷), and Tianmian Tech (天冕科技) in Mainland China and Maucash in Indonesia.

WeLab is backed by the most renowned investors including Allianz, China Construction Bank International, International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, CK Hutchison’s TOM Group, and Sequoia Capital.

To learn more about WeLab, please visit: www.welab.co, or follow WeLab on LinkedIn and Facebook.

About Allianz X

Allianz X invests in digital frontrunners in ecosystems relevant to insurance and wealth management. As one of the pillars of Allianz Group’s digital transformation strategy, Allianz X provides an interface between Allianz Operating Entities and the broader digital ecosystem, enabling collaborative partnerships in insurtech, fintech, and beyond. 

For more information, please visit: https://www.allianzx.com/.

About Allianz Global Investors

Allianz Global Investors is a leading active asset manager with over 700 investment professionals in 25 offices worldwide and managing EUR 582 billion in assets for individuals, families and institutions*.

We see investing as a journey and we seek to create value for our clients every step of the way. We invest for the long term, employing our global investment and risk capabilities and sustainable investing expertise to create innovative solutions that anticipate future needs. We believe in solving not selling – our goal is to elevate the investment experience for clients, wherever they are based and whatever their investment objectives.

Active is: Allianz Global Investors
*Source: Allianz Global Investors. Data as at 31 December 2020

For media enquiries, please contact:

WeLab:
WeLab Corporate Communications Team
Tel: +852 6214 4734
Email: pr@welab.co

Allianz X:
Gregor Wills
Tel: +49 89 3800 61313
Email: gregor.wills@allianz.com

PR Newswire

Data analytics software company Phocas positions for rapid growth in the U.S. and UK with AU$45 million (US$34 million) capital raise

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SYDNEY, Jan. 29, 2021 — Australian global data analytics software business Phocas Software announces a AU$45 million (US$34 million) capital raise to accelerate its growth in America and the United Kingdom, expand into new industries and develop its core products.

Ellerston Capital led the capital raise with a AU$35 million (US$27 million) equity investment. OneVentures, an existing shareholder who first invested in the company in 2018, provided an additional AU$10 million (US$7 million) equity financing, reinforcing the venture capital firm’s confidence in the company.

Phocas is a cloud-based data analytics Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company with operations in the US, Australia and the UK. It is a growing, profitable company which should reach circa AU$50million in revenue by July 1, 2021. The business employs 200 people and has more than 1,900 mid-market customers, including Karcher, Burson Automotive, Repco, Henry Schein, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Fiskars Royal Doulton in Australia. Litex Industries, American Metals Supply, Dixie Plywood and Equipment Controls Company in the U.S. And Ruroc, Bayliss and Harding, Savona, Midfix and Wessex Packaging in the UK.

The company will use the funding to substantially invest in its core data analytics and new financial products, which are in high demand by midmarket manufacturing, wholesale and retail businesses globally and expand into new industries. The funding will enable the company to supercharge its sales and marketing capacity in the U.S. and the UK, to support expansion into new verticals and grow out its AI capabilities, positioning Phocas as a global leader in data analytics solutions for mid-market customers.

Phocas’ cloud data analytics application plugs into enterprise ERP systems and multiple other data sources and has over 20 global ERP partners, including U.S. giant Epicor. The technology allows people across a company to collate and understand the key numbers critical to their work. Phocas has a low barrier to entry, reduces layers of data, decreases administration costs, and allows everyone within an organisation to understand financial performance better and act on it.

Toni Korsanos, an Investment Director of Ellerston JAADE, joins the board of Phocas. 

"Phocas is Ellerston JAADE’s 6th investment, and we are excited to be joining Myles and the entire Phocas team in supporting its growth objectives. We see great strength in the products that Phocas offers, leading cloud-based SaaS BI software specializing in Data and Financial Analytics. Its products drive a high affinity with customers, assisting in decision support through the ease of data access, analysis and reporting. Phocas has global reach and strong potential for growth especially in the U.S. We look forward to a great partnership with the Phocas team and stakeholders," said Toni. 

OneVentures has been an institutional investor in Phocas for the last four years and has worked alongside the management team to support them in restructuring their business, enhancing the global management team and successfully positioning the business’ growth to unlock the future value, with the company releasing two new products in 2020.

"Phocas has a significant market opportunity and is poised now to accelerate its growth in 2021 and beyond. With many listed SaaS companies like Nuix and Wisetech demonstrating value in these types of businesses, Phocas will be a company to watch for the future," said Dr Michelle Deaker, Managing Partner at OneVentures who joined the Phocas board in 2017.

Phocas was co-founded by Myles Glashier in 2001 who continues as the global CEO.

"Phocas always has a razor-sharp focus on the customer. As an agile organisation, we continue to respond to their needs. Customers will benefit from this new investment as we expand the features and functionality of the core product for our clients’ sales, purchasing and executive teams. We also continue to bring business intelligence to the finance function, making financial performance analysis a daily not a monthly activity," said Myles.

"Phocas has only really touched the surface of its growth potential. We could continue to bootstrap the company but taking on this capital injection will accelerate new vertical market entry and our new product rollout. The reality is mid-market business can’t run operations on spreadsheets anymore. They need an effective tool to manage all the data and make fast and accurate decisions from workplaces at home or across divisions. It’s a large addressable market and unmet need, and Phocas plans to capture and dominate our core mid-market segment globally," adds Myles.

Phocas was advised by Blackpeak Capital during the capital raise. 

About Phocas Software
Phocas is a cloud-based, SaaS company specializing in data analytics for the manufacturing, distribution, retail industries. We use sector knowledge to consolidate essential business data from common ERP, CRM, and AP/AR systems to make it simple to access companywide insights and financial performance through historical and predictive analysis.

A core philosophy at Phocas is to make our software intuitive so the everyday user can track and report on essential KPIs and metrics that are specific to role and industry. People can also customize to meet the unique reporting needs of their business. phocassoftware.com

About Ellerston JAADE
The Ellerston JAADE Australian Private Assets Fund is a collaboration between the Ellerston Ventures investment team of David Leslie and Anthony Klok, and Aristocrat’s ex-CEO, Jamie Odell and ex-CFO Toni Korsanos. The founding partners are uniquely positioned and have complementary skill sets, providing proven operational and management expertise as well as a consistent investment track record. The Ellerston JAADE Australian Private Assets Fund is an Australian Expansion / Growth stage and Pre IPO investment fund operated as an open-ended unit trust. ellerstoncapital.com

About OneVentures
OneVentures is one of Australia’s leading venture capital firms, with over $500M in funds under management. But we do more than invest. We take companies to that all-important next stage, by actively shaping their future. We apply our years of international experience, operational and executional expertise to accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies. A global growth focus drives our investment selection with our current portfolio including companies with truly innovative products tackling multi-billion-dollar problems, from needle-free vaccinations to virtual communications to adaptive e-learning.
Game changers, that deliver lasting gains. One-ventures.com.au

 

Related Links :

https://www.phocassoftware.com/

PR Newswire

Replika Software Secures Series A Financing from LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oréal BOLD Ventures to Power the Future of Social Selling

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NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 — Replika Software, the turnkey social selling solution enabling brands to empower their networks of social sellers to inspire and sell online, has completed its Series A financing round with LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oréal BOLD, both investment arms of their parent companies. The funding will enable Replika to aggressively expand its global footprint of brands and industries which can significantly benefit from creating new social selling channels. With this financing, the company plans to continue investing in its technology, introduce new breakthrough features and add to their team to support the rapid adoption of the platform. Representatives from LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oréal BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) will be a part of Replika’s Board of Directors.

Replika Software Secures Series A Financing from LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oreal BOLD Ventures to Power the Future of Social Selling
Replika Software Secures Series A Financing from LVMH Luxury Ventures and L’Oreal BOLD Ventures to Power the Future of Social Selling

Kareen Mallet, Co-founder of Replika Software, said, "When we founded Replika, we envisioned a future where every brand would be able to benefit from the power of social selling. After concluding commercial arrangements with several Maisons of LVMH and brands of L’Oréal, it is tremendously satisfying to see that the investment arms of two of the world’s most forward-thinking companies have decided to invest in our vision. We’re thrilled to have their support as we enter this phase of growth and lead the industry towards humanizing online shopping."

Replika’s relationship with LVMH started in 2019 when the group discovered and selected the solution to be highlighted at the Vivatech Innovation Awards.  The company was then invited to participate in LVMH’s accelerator, "La Maison des Startups", at Station F and their business relationship has continued to expand ever since, with deployments in both Europe and the US. The journey with L’Oréal began when their Chief Digital Officer, Lubomira Rochet, a true advocate of Social Commerce, identified Replika out of over 1,000 startups exhibiting at Vivatech and she has continued to pave the way within the organization for brand deployments across all divisions, in countries around the world.

"The Series A financing builds on an exceptional year for Replika. We were able to rapidly grow a roster of clients across several verticals, introduced important programming and feature upgrades, while solidifying our management team with key executive appointments.  We believe this funding will help us shift the current online selling paradigm, not only in the fashion and beauty industries, but in the broader healthcare, entertainment, travel and electronics industries as well," -said Corey Gottlieb, Co-founder.

About Replika Software

Replika Software is an award-winning turnkey social selling software that enables brands to activate their network of social sellers to sell online, inspire on social media and connect with consumers anytime, anywhere. The company is based in New York and Paris, at Station F. with La Maison Des Startups/LVMH. Former Fashion Director from Neiman Marcus & Bergdorf Goodman, Kareen Mallet, along with Advertising Executive & Serial Entrepreneur, Corey Gottlieb, founded the company in 2016.   To learn more visit www.replikasoftware.com.

CONTACT: media@replikasoftware.com

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Related Links :

http://www.replikasoftware.com