WeLab aims to launch WeLab Bank next year in Hong Kong and plans to expand its presence across South East Asia in the next two years
Image: WeLab secures $150m in funding. Photo: Courtesy of 3D Animation Production Company/Pixabay
Hong Kong-based fintech company WeLab has secured $156m (HKD1.2 bn) in series C funding round to further expand internationally.
The fundinground that saw participation of both new and existing investors, including Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and China Construction Bank, among others.
The last funding round for WeLab was in 2017 and since then, the company is claimed to have scaled its tech-enabled business across three markets.
It has secured several operating licences and 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’.
WeLab founder and group CEO Simon Loong said: “This financing will be used to further develop and broaden our platform as a fintech enabler. 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.”
With the funding, WeLab aims to further develop and broaden its platform as a fintech enabler with three key targets.
The targets include launching of WeLab Bank next year and further expanding its China’s B2B business to work with 1,000 partners and to make its proprietary ‘Privacy Computing’ solutions to enterprises on cloud platform in the second half of next year.
The company also plans to expand its foray into another South East Asian market beyond Indonesia in the next two years.
WeLab operates in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Indonesia
WeLab operates across 3 markets that includes Hong Kong, Mainland China and Indonesia, In Hong Kong, WeLab secured virtual banking license by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority this April.
With nearly 13.2% of market share, WeLab’s WeLend continues to be one of Hong Kong’s leading pure online lending platforms.
In Mainland China, the company has been operating for 5 years and has built a significant footprint in the region. The number of registered users for WeLab Digital surpassed 41 million and the number of small and micro loan applications increased by nearly 412% this year.
WeLab entered the Indonesian market last year, as a joint venture PT AWDA, with PT Astra. The brand maucash was launched, gaining strong traction in the first year of operations. It has also acquired more than 600,000 registered users, which is 28% more than when WeLab entered Mainland China market back in 2014.
The company also secured a fintech licence from the Indonesian Financial Services Regulatory Authority (OJK), this September, becoming one of the only 13 licenced operators in the country.
Loong continued saying: “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.”