Singapore fintechs took up 51% of funding in ASEAN as of Q3

Singapore Life’s $150.39m funding was amongst the year’s notable deals.

Singapore’s financial technology (fintech) firms attracted the lion’s share fintech funding in Southeast Asia, or 51% of the $1.55b (US$1.14b) funds garnered by the region’s countries by the end of Q3 2019, a report by United Overseas Bank (UOB), accounting firm PwC, and Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) revealed.

Singapore also attracted the lion’s share of the total number of funding deals in the region, at 51%.

Chief amongst the Singapore deals that took place in 2019 was Singapore Life’s series C funding round, which garnered $150.39m (US$110.3m). It was also the second-highest funded fintech transaction so far, trailing the $409.04m (US$300m) investment received by Vietnam’s VNPay.

Funding for Singapore-based fintech firms was the most evenly distributed, with insurance technology (28%), banking technology (23%), payments (13%), and personal finance (14%) leading the way.

“Singapore had the most variety in terms of solutions focus, [a] testament to the country’s push to encourage FinTech innovation across a broad range of areas. The highest number of deals were made with firms offering payment solutions, while the highest amount of funding went to InsurTech solutions, driven by two deals, specifically Singapore Life at $150.39m and CXA Group at $34.09m (US$25m),” the report read.

Singapore also emerged as the number one choice of fintech firms entering ASEAN, according to the inaugural “FinTech in ASEAN Growth Survey 2019.”

The survey found that amongst non-ASEAN fintech firms who plans to expand to the region, 26% chose the Lion City as the preferred market for their foray into ASEAN. Malaysia and Thailand followed, with 18% and 17% of fintech firms choosing the two countries.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia