SINGAPORE – The monetary know-how sector right here noticed investments greater than double final yr to US$861 million (S$1.2 billion) from US$365 million in 2018, in keeping with an Accenture examine releasedon Thursday (Feb 20).
The variety of offers closed additionally jumped, by 52 per cent to 108 final yr from 71 in 2018.
Accenture’s Asean monetary companies lead Divyesh Vithlani stated broad curiosity within the new digital banking licenses and the sturdy progress in fintech investments final yr bode properly for the longer term growth of Singapore’s fintech ecosystem.
He added that buyers’ focus has been on funds start-ups and their options, however the trade can count on a shift in funding into business banking as among the new digital banks come onboard.
“We see an increasing number of firms concentrating on the business banking area with new merchandise and options for SMEs which have been underserved by conventional banks,” Mr Vithlani stated.
About 40 per cent of the entire funds raised final yr in Singapore went into funds start-ups, whereas insurtechs (insurance coverage know-how corporations) raked in 25 per cent of investments, an Accenture spokesman stated. Fintechs within the lending area accounted for 13 per cent of whole pie, he added.
Notable offers included the US$100 million that cloud firm Deskera closed in Could, the US$90 million from credit score danger analytics and lending start-up FinAccel in November, the US$90 million from insurtech Singapore Life in July and the US$80 million from monetary merchandise market GoBear in Could.
Mr Vithlani stated: “There are enormous alternatives in South-east Asia for conventional gamers in addition to fintech start-ups, notably within the shopper area, the place there are tens of millions of unbanked and underbanked folks, so we’ll in all probability proceed to see many firms utilizing Singapore as a launch pad into different fast-growing markets within the area.”
The whole worth of fintech investments final yr positioned Singapore because the fifth greatest fintech market by funds in Asia Pacific, behind India, China, Australia and South Korea, Accenture stated.
