10 Sea
Sea Limited, the Singapore-based, Nasdaq-listed e-commerce and virtual banking giant, had a storming year. The climax to a surging stock price was its raising $6 billion in an equity and convertible bond sale – the largest ever fundraising for a Southeast Asian company. This adds to a massive $7 billion warchest already amassed on the profitable company’s balance sheet.
Covid has propelled online shopping via Sea’s ecommerce site, Shopee, with about a third of orders paid via Sea’s own payment wallet, SeaMoney. The first nine months of the year saw Sea’s stock price surge by five times, although it has stumbled in the fourth quarter. The company says it will use the proceeds for acquisitions and market expansion. Fintech will continue to be a major target: the company opened 2021 by buying Indonesia’s Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi (Bank BKE). Expect SeaMoney to expand into more emerging markets while integrating into the Singapore bank to offer mature financial products.
11 StashAway
Singapore’s StashAway leads the robo-advisor pack in Asia. It kicked off the year by announcing its assets under management exceeded $1 billion, making it the most successful asset acquirer among Asian consumer-facing wealth apps. The industry has been skeptical about the ability of a consumer-oriented wealthtech company to make it in Asia, given the region’s fragmentation. This is the year StashAway put an end to that discussion.
The team followed this up with a $25 million Series D fundraising in April, led by Sequoia Capital India. The firm now operates in markets including Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia, as well as in its home market. In addition to goals-based investing, StashAway is broadening its remit. In May it debuted a group term life policy underwritten by Prudential Singapore.
12-14 Virtual bank trio: Tyme, Volt, WeLab
Among the region’s virtual banks, it’s not always clear which ones are really prospering, as they don’t yet make money. Three banks made deals this year that suggest they can make it for the long haul, whether that means a lucrative trade sale or an IPO.
Tyme, the South African-based challenger bank that rests on its card-issuing kiosks, debuted in Asia this year with two wins. In March it became the go-to partner for JG Summit, a massive family conglomerate in the Philippines. It followed this up in December with a $180 million Series B capital raise led by Tencent and CDC.
Australia’s Volt Bank became the first challenger bank there to be accredited as a data recipient, meaning it can offer open-banking services in line with established rivals. It teamed up with Railsbank to provide the APIs and infrastructure to launch Volt’s banking-as-a-service offer, diversifying from pure retail banking.
Hong Kong’s WeLab, a fintech, payments company and virtual-bank operator, notched two notable gains this year. It secured investment from Allianz X and with it a partnership with Allianz Global Investors to develop wealth products. And in December it raised $240 million to acquire Bank Jasa Jakarta, an Indonesian commercial bank – the first time in Asia that a challenger bank has acquired a traditional lender, as well as the first virtual bank operator to play in multiple markets.
15 Xendit
Indonesia’s crowded fintech scene is beginning to generate winners and losers. Xendit is a winner this year, raising $150 million in a Series C raise led by Tiger Global. The deal values Xendit at $1 billion.
Xendit has been building out payments infrastructure catering to small and medium-sized businesses in Indonesia as well as the Philippines. The fintech reaches these directly as well as via tech giants such as Grab, Traveloka and Wise. It allows merchants to accept payments from wallets, buy-now, pay-later schemes, and other methods. Its innovative, customer approach makes it comparable to an Indonesian version of Stripe, and like its Silicon Valley counterpart, Xendit is now working on new products, from credit cards to loans.
Next page for those companies who would rather forget 2021.
