8 Southeast Asian Fintech Startups Named The company was named to this year’s Forbes 100 Hottest Companies in Asia, a recognition of its success in attracting investor attention and securing significant backing.
Representing countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea, these companies are leveraging innovative business models and cutting-edge technology to address challenges in areas such as lending, banking and business finance, while improving efficiency and accessibility across the financial services industry.
Today, we take a look at nine fintech startups from the region that made it to the list, highlighting their value proposition and recent achievements.
PayWatch (Malaysia)
Founded in 2020, Paywatch is a fintech company that offers a debt-free Earned Wage Access (EWA) solution, better known as on-demand payroll.
The solution gives employees real-time access to a portion of their earned pay before the payroll cycle ends.
By providing instant access to pay, Paywatch aims to reduce employees’ reliance on high-interest loans, reduce household debt and improve financial management.
At the same time, a fully automated system increases employee retention and productivity, allowing companies to significantly reduce costs associated with recruiting and training.
Paywatch, which operates in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea, has recorded impressive growth, processing over $58 million in payrolls to date and disbursing approximately $8 million per month. The company expects payroll volume to exceed $120 million by the end of the year.
PayWatch Secured $30 million The company raised funds in June, highlighting its potential for growth and expansion.
Last year, the company Recognized It was named the top Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) startup at the Fintech Frontier Awards by Fintech News Malaysia and this year it is the only Malaysian fintech company to feature in Forbes Asia’s “100 Companies to Watch 2024” list.
Lista (Philippines)
Established 2021, Lista teeth The fastest growing financial management app in the Philippines, providing innovative solutions for both personal and business finances.
The company aims to empower Filipino micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals by providing an easy-to-use app designed to give them greater financial management.
Lista Money Management App Offers A range of features designed to help users manage their finances, including customizable budgeting options that allow users to plan their budgets on a weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly basis.
Through partnerships with credit bureaus, the app also gives users access to their credit scores and allows them to explore opportunities for credit cards, loans and other financial products. It also includes a marketplace where users can compare credit cards and insurance plans tailored to their needs.
Additionally, Lista comes with a receipt scanner that converts paper receipts into digital records for seamless tracking, and cashflow sync that securely consolidates all your accounts in one place.
Lista claims to have over 1 million registered users and over 2.5 million downloads. Secured To date, over $5 million has been raised.
Zed (Philippines)
Zed is a soon-to-be-launched credit card service in the Philippines that plans to offer a unique, fee-free approach to credit, primarily targeting young professionals, especially those new to credit or who don’t have an extensive credit history.
Unlike traditional credit cards, Zed won’t charge interest, annual fees or foreign transaction fees — instead, the company plans to make revenue from a portion of the network fees paid by merchants for each transaction made with the card.
Zed’s innovative services include a fee-free credit card with features such as no hidden fees when spending abroad and no interest on purchases for up to 31 days, and an advanced app with real-time transaction monitoring and security features such as card freezing and unlimited virtual cards for secure online transactions.
The solution determines credit limits based on a user’s current and future income rather than relying on traditional credit scores. Additionally, Zed offers unlimited virtual cards for safer online transactions, enhancing user security.
As of August 27, 2024, more than 86,000 people are on Zed’s waiting list. This year, the startup raised $6 million in seed funding. Secured License from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as a non-bank credit card issuer.
Fluid (Singapore)
Singapore-based Fluid teeth A cutting edge business-to-business (B2B) buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution designed to enable suppliers to fund buyer purchases at the time of checkout or when negotiating contract terms.
Fluid offers both buyers and suppliers a seamless, efficient and flexible payment option to traditional payment methods such as invoice factoring, which are often outdated and cumbersome.
This innovative approach allows suppliers to free up funds tied up in accounts receivable and expand their basket size to attract new buyers.
The platform easily integrates into marketplaces, e-commerce websites, ERP and accounting systems, providing a consumer-level experience that sets it apart from traditional digital lenders and invoice finance companies in the B2B sector.
fluid Secured Fluid will raise $5.2 million in Series A funding in February 2024, bringing the company’s total funding to $7 million. With this new funding, Fluid plans to expand its product lineup, attract large suppliers from various industries, and expand its risk management and engineering teams to support its business expansion.
HitPay (Singapore)
HitPay was founded in 2016. teeth A Singapore-based multi-purpose payments platform designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses.
The platform offers no-code tools that allow businesses to create customizable payment links and send professional invoices without the need for coding skills.
We support a wide range of local and international payment methods, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets such as PayNow, GrabPay and ShopeePay, and bank transfers.
It also offers seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms and developer-friendly application programming interfaces (APIs) for more advanced configuration.
HitPay operates on a pay-per-transaction model with no rental or subscription fees, meaning businesses only incur costs when they make a sale.
Hit Pay Secured In June, the company received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), enabling it to acquire merchants and provide domestic and international remittance services.
The licence strengthens HitPay’s ability to provide accessible commerce tools to SMEs and opens up new cross-border growth opportunities in Singapore and across Southeast Asia.
Genfi (Singapore)
Jenfi provides flexible financing solutions to digitally native businesses in Southeast Asia, enabling them to scale their marketing, inventory and growth campaigns.
The company offers up to $1 million in non-dilutive capital, which allows companies to grow without having to give up equity.
Jenfi uses a proprietary risk assessment engine that evaluates both a company’s creditworthiness and marketing growth efficiency. Unlike traditional lenders that focus primarily on financial statements, Integrate It seamlessly integrates with various data sources such as accounting software, payment gateways, e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, digital advertising platforms, etc.
The integration provides Jenfi with real-time data on companies’ revenue growth and return on marketing investments, enabling continuous monitoring and faster underwriting decisions. The platform’s automated underwriting enables same-day decision-making and disbursement of funds, streamlining the lending process.
Jenfi has already invested over $25 million in over 600 companies, including big names like Gushcloud, Ralali, Hello Health, Lamer Fashion, Buy2sell, and Mystifly.
Genfi raised $6.6 million in a pre-Series B funding round in May 2023. the purpose Strengthen technological capabilities to further improve the speed and accuracy of credit underwriting and risk assessment
Tazapay (Singapore)
Tazapay was founded in 2021 teeth A leading fintech company specializing in cross-border payment solutions.
The company provides a seamless platform for international trade, enabling businesses to transact easily across more than 173 countries, supporting global business accounts in over 60 currencies and offering a range of card and local payment options.
Tazapay operates a network of local collection methods in over 85 markets, making cross-border payments as cost-effective as domestic payments.
The platform emphasizes security and compliance, ensuring strong transaction protection, adherence to global and local standards, chargeback management, and fraud prevention. Additionally, Tazapay offers optimized foreign exchange management with competitive rates, enhancing financial efficiency.
Tazapay was founded by veterans of companies like Stripe, PayPal, and Grab. Raised In February 2023, the company successfully completed a $16.9 million Series A funding round, receiving significant investment from prestigious institutions such as Sequoia and the PayPal Alumni Fund.
Lujai (Thailand)
Roojai is an insurtech startup founded in 2016. Offers Simple and affordable online insurance products including vehicle, critical illness, accident and travel cover. The company is focused on providing a user-friendly service with a digital-first approach, enabling customers to easily get quotes, buy insurance and manage their policies online.
Lujay is aggressively expanding its business across Southeast Asia. launch In Indonesia in 2022 Get Founded local insurance aggregator Lifepal in 2024. Startup Claims The company expects to see robust growth in fiscal year 2023, from April 2022 to March 2023, with premium income rising 20 percent year-on-year to more than 1.3 billion baht ($36 million). The number of customers also increased by 15 percent, it said.
According to According to CB Insights, Lujai has raised $69 million in funding to date, with its latest round being a $42 million Series B secured in March 2023. The company said it will use the funds to accelerate its growth in Thailand, drive expansion across Southeast Asia, and pursue acquisition opportunities.
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