Hong Kong-based financial technology firm WeLab announced that it has raised $156 million of Series C strategic financing, completing the largest fintech fundraising in Greater China year to date.
This round drew the backing of new investors as well as 5 existing investors who made follow-on investments, including Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and China Construction Bank (International) amongst others, as validation of WeLab’s accomplishments and confidence for WeLab’s future prospects.
The fresh funding will be used to further develop and broaden the firm’s platform as a fintech enabler, said Simon Loong, founder and group CEO of WeLab.
“Further investment into technology research and development, will enable us to apply these innovative technologies around the region to roll out additional products and services for our customers to provide holistic financial services digitally,” added Loong.
In the 2 years since the last fundraising round in 2017, WeLab has successfully transformed into a regional fintech leader, scaling the tech-enabled business in 3 markets, achieving some notable milestones including being granted several operating licenses and industry-leading technology patents, including: Hong Kong’s virtual bank license; Mainland China’s financial guarantee license and financial leasing license; Indonesia’s fintech license issued by the OJK; and technology patents, including for “Edge computing”, which solidifies WeLab’s commitment to fintech innovation and path to providing more comprehensive financial services.
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WeLab also officially released the group’s Chinese name “匯立金融控股有限公司” and the Chinese name of WeLab Bank as “匯立銀行”. The group’s operations which span across 3 markets have achieved some outstanding results through the 6 key brands.
In 2020, the Group aspires to further develop and broaden the platform as a fintech enabler with the following 3 key targets: to launch WeLab Bank in 2020; further expand China’s B2B business to work with over 1,000 partners and to make our proprietary “Privacy Computing” solutions to enterprises on the cloud platform in 2H 2020; and aim to enter another South East Asia market beyond Indonesia within the next 2 years.
In closing, Loong also said “With technological advancement, fintech has gradually been integrated into our daily lives over the last decade, transforming the traditional world of banking as we know it. 2020 marks the inflexion point where the calls for supervision and governance are necessary, starting with regulated digital banks.” – BusinessNewsAsia.com