Fintech ventures in Singapore received an investment of $735 million in the first nine months of 2019, according to research from Accenture. The company projected the number after analyzing data from CB Insights, Tracxn, and Pitchbook.
Compared to the first three-quarters of the last years, the investment is up by 69% in 2019. Last year (not just nine months), Singapore fintech companies were able to raise about $642 million, the study found.
While the value of investments has increased significantly, the number of deals fell by 29% over the same period from 133 to 94. Accenture noted that this trend indicates investors are taking larger bets on fewer deals as startups grow their business. Conversely, investments in new startups fell both in value (-56%) and quantity (-46%), while investments in mature startups grew by 66% to $442 million.
Payments startups accounted for 34% of the investment, lending ventures took home 20%, and insurance technology deals received 17% of total investments. In June 2019, the central bank said they were planning to issue five new digital bank licenses to non-banking businesses to strengthen competition in financial services. Hong Kong and the UK are among the major economies that are allowing virtual banks to offer digital lending services to compete with traditional lenders.
Monetary Authority of Singapore Chief Fintech Officer, Sopnendu Mohanty, told Today Online that the record-breaking investment is a sign that investors recognize the potential of Singapore’s fintech ecosystem. “It’s encouraging to see the local startups financing their global growth from Singapore. Additionally, several global fintech companies with regional headquarters in Singapore have recently raised sizeable funds to fuel their Asian expansion,” he added.
