Fintech sparkles amid SEA’s tech winter

IN FOCUS

In today’s newsletter, we look at:

• How fintech emerged as Southeast Asia’s top sector for funding in 2023
• What Shopee’s acquisition of a Brazilian fintech startup’s credit unit says about where its future lies

Welcome to The Top Up! Delivered every fortnight via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in fintech. Get it in your email inbox by registering here.

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Hi there,

Happy New Year! 2024 looks to be an exciting year. With our acquisition by SPH Media, we have much to look forward to over here at Tech in Asia.

I decided to join Tech in Asia full-time after freelancing with the organization for over a year. This gave me a good sense of the nature of the work and the people I would be dealing with, de-risking the decision considerably.

This decision-making process sprang to mind when I read that Sumitomo Life planned to fully acquire Singlife. The Japanese firm said it would buy up TPG’s 35% stake and offer to do the same for Singlife’s other shareholders.

Sumitomo has been an investor in Singlife since 2019, and the past few years would have given it the opportunity to familiarize itself with the latter’s business model, management, and prospects.

The deal, which values Singlife at US$3.5 billion, was one of the biggest among Southeast Asian tech firms in 2023. The year saw fintech emerge, yet again, as the top draw for investors in the region’s tech ecosystem.

In this week’s Big Story, I take a closer look at which sub-sectors – and specific players – within the fintech industry attracted the most funding. With the total dollar value of investments made in Southeast Asia on an uptick, one investor is keeping an eye on areas like medtech and agritech, sectors that “governments see value in.”

Digital banks Anext, MariBank, and GXS alone raised over half a billion dollars in total from their parent firms, which include major tech platforms like Ant Financial, Sea, and Grab.

Meanwhile, Sea’s acquisition of the credit arm of a Brazilian fintech player is the subject of this week’s Hot Take. Given the renewed competition Shopee is facing in Southeast Asia, the performance of Sea’s digital financial services arm will be even more crucial to its beleaguered share price.

— Simon

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THE BIG STORY

Fintech and ecommerce lead the way in SEA’s turbulent tech year

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THE HOT TAKE

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NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

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FYI