Citi, HSBC back Singapore fintech startup Spark in $10.5m round

Singapore-based Spark Systems, a tech-enabled trading platform, today announced the first close of its series B funding round of US$10.5 million. Incoming investors include Citigroup, HSBC, and Malaysia-based OSK Ventures International Berhad.

They join Spark’s existing backers Goldman Sachs, Vickers Venture Partners, Dymon Asia Ventures, Dymon Asia Capital, Jubilee Capital, and FengHe Group.

The startup is also backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore through grants from the Financial Sector Development Fund.

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Founded in 2016, Spark offers high-speed trading platforms that promise low latency, resiliency, and cost-efficiency. It plans to use the fresh investment to further develop its in-house technology by deepening the expertise of its development team and building modules to speed up user onboarding and improve analytics, according to a statement.

It also plans to expand to New York and London as well as develop a marketplace that supports currencies in Group of Ten or emerging economies, with a data center located in Singapore.

According to Bloomberg, the startup recorded an average of US$5.5 billion in per-day trading volume in the first quarter of this year, up from US$2.5 billion in 2019. But the economic slowdown brought by the Covid-19 crisis is starting to affect its second quarter, pushing down the average trading volume to between US$4.5 billion and US$5 billion a day.

Spark ultimately looks to develop regional banks and financial institution treasury technology and grow a Singapore-based FX marketplace for corporate treasuries, institutional users, and international banks, according to a statement.