According to a survey report of more than 27,000 active digital consumers in 27 markets, Asia is the leader in the fintech sector globally, with China and India as the biggest names in this sector.
Among the emerging fintech markets across the globe, Southeast Asian markets are the most promising ones, but one of the factors affecting the growth of fintech in this region is the lack of financial inclusion.
As far as the data goes, in Indonesia, 49% of the adult citizens have a bank account, in the Philippines, it’s 34%, in Vietnam it’s 31%, and in Cambodia, it goes as low as 22%. The penetration of health management and insurance is also low in these regions.
And due to these ongoing conditions, saving, lending and managing money gets difficult for the citizens. These conditions have left the door wide open for fintech companies to offer innovative services to unbanked customers and improve their financial situation. According to CrunchBase Insight, fundraising activity in the fintech sector has grown by 143% since 2018.
In a report by Robocash, an international financial institution, countries like Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are the ‘fintech boom markets’ in Southeast Asia.
Singapore is the forerunner in the fintech market of Southeast Asia. It has dominated the fintech sector for the last couple of years. Singapore’s diversified fintech market includes many services like cryptocurrency trading, fund transfers, investment apps, insurance services, peer-to-peer payments, crowdfunding platforms and moneylending services.
Indonesia, despite its large population, only 50% of its citizens are active users of the internet, which means nearly 150 Million people know how to use fintech services. Only 11% of the population transact online for any purchase or pay bills. In 2018, the total value of online payments in Indonesia in that particular year was USD 313.6 Million. Along with fintech, eCommerce has also started booming in the past few years.
The Philippines saw an increase of 20% in digital payments in 2020. The country has a particularly high percentage of active internet users at 71%. In 2018, according to Singapore Fintech news, one-third of the companies started in that year were payments platform and others were alternative finance and blockchain, which were 30% and 16% respectively.
Vietnam has a record of crossing the USD 1 Billion mark in the personal finance sector. There is an annual growth rate of 38.4% resulting in a projected total amount of USD 4.5 billion by 2024. Around 5% of the population uses the internet for mobile banking, 39% do payments online, and 9.3% of people own some kind of cryptocurrency.
In this article, we have gathered the Top 10 Fintech startups in Southeast Asia. The startups in this list are the most prominent ones having revenues of more than USD 10 million. (Source: CrunchBase).
- Momo
- Founded – 2007
- Founders – Diep Nguyen, Tuong Nguyen
- Total funding amount – USD 233.5 Million
- Location – Ho Chi Minh City, NA – Vietnam, Vietnam
- Lead Investors – Goodwater Capital, Warbug Pincus, Standard Chartered Bank, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners
Momo is a Fintech startup that provides electronic wallets and mobile payment apps for Android and iOS. Its products aid users in Vietnam to make nationwide cash transfers, pay nearly every kind of bill, recharge, settle loans and purchase services online. The startup’s payment system has partnered with many domestic banks and foreign payment networks, including Visa, JCB, and MasterCard.
- Advance.AI
- Founded – 2015
- Founders – Chun Dong Chau, Dong Shou, Jefferson Chen
- Total funding amount – USD 136 Million
- Location – Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
- Investors – Pavilion Capital, Gaorong Capital
ADVANCE.AI is a data-driven fintech company with multiple offices in the APAC region . They are on a quest to build a better financial world, one of the key goals of the startup is to revolutionize the credit system. It is built by successful and experienced entrepreneurs and investors in the US, Singapore, and China, who are from top-tier schools like UIUC, CMU, Fudan, NTU, NUS, and SJTU with experience in companies like Farallon Capital, Accenture, Baidu, HSBC, and Amazon, Tencent, and Goldman Sachs.
- Thunes
- Founded – 2016
- Founders – Aik Tan (CCO), Peter Caluwe (CEO)
- Total funding amount – USD 130 Million
- Location – Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
- Investors – Helios Investment Partners, Insight Partners, GGV Capitals
Thunes is a B2B cross-border network of payments that lets corporates and financial institutions transfer funds and provide services in the market. The startup’s global platform connects banks, tech companies, money transfer operators, and mobile wallet providers.
- PAYFAZZ
- Founded – May 2016
- Founders – Hendra Kwik, Jefriyanto Guang, Ricky Winata
- Total funding amount – USD 74.1 Million
- Location – Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
- Investors – Insignia Ventures Partners, B Capital Group, Tiger Global Management
PAYFAZZ is a fintech company that develops payment solutions for Indonesians, especially for people who are unbanked. The startup ensures that the technology developed gives a guarantee of security. It uses GeoTrust SSL, password and user name as a part of its banking security system.
- Amartha
- Founded – 2010
- Founders – Andi Taufan Garuda Putra
- Total funding amount – USD 63.5 Million
- Location – Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
- Investors – MDI Ventures, Nor Found, Women World Banking, Lendable, Bank Mandiri, Line Ventures.
Amartha is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects SMEs and micro-business partners with investors.
- Aspire
- Founded – Jan 2018
- Founders – Andrea Baronchelli, Giacomo Ficari, Giovanni Casinelli, Joel Leong, Stefano Pellegrino
- Total funding amount – USD 41 Million
- Location – Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
- Investors – MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia (MMV SEA), Y Combinator
Aspire is a fintech organisation that serves modern businesses with inclusive and convenient financial services. Aspire was initiated with one aim in mind – to serve entrepreneurs with simplicity and speed, so they can solely focus on growing the business.
- Uploan
- Founded – April 2017
- Founders – Benoit Portoleau-Balloy, Liam Grealish
- Total funding amount – USD 25 million
- Location – Manila, Manila, Philippines
- Investors – Lendable
Upload is a fintech startup that provides an end-to-end “Salary Loan Management Platform” to employers. It intends to build a financially independent world with access to economic opportunities for everyone.
- Superatom
- Founded – 2018
- Founders – Johnny Li, Scarlett Xiao
- Total funding amount – USD 24 Million
- Location – Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
- Investors – Gobi Partners
SuperAtom is a fintech startup that offers a P2P lending platform and cryptocurrency exchange, allowing users to borrow funds effortlessly and trade in cryptocurrency with ease.
- Fincy
- Founded – 2018
- Founders – Douglas Gan, Zhenxuan Li
- Total funding amount – USD 11 Million
- Location – Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
- Investors – GBCI Ventures
Fincy is a financial platform that offers currency exchange and multi-currency wallets enabling seamless and contactless currency exchange.
- iMoney Group
- Founded – 2012
- Founders – Bruno Araujo, Ching Wei Lee
- Total funding amount – USD 10.8 Million
- Location – Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Investors – iSelect, Jungle Ventures
iMoney is a fintech startup, that was acquired by JurisTech, a B2B fintech company, in 2020. It provides an online comparison portal that helps people make wiser money decisions.
For more extensive analysis and Market Intelligence reports, feel free to approach us or visit our website: Venture Capital Market Intelligence Reports | VCBay.
We try our best to fact check and bring the best, well-researched and non-plagiarized content to you. Please let us know
-if there are any discrepancies in any of our published stories,
-how we can improve,
-what stories you would like us to cover and what information you are looking for, in the comments section below or through our contact form! We look forward to your feedback, and thank you for stopping by!
