MAS eyes AI, Web3 projects with $112m fintech scheme

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced the details of its S$150 million (US$112 million) commitment to support the growth of the fintech industry over the next three years.

The Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme (FSTI) 3.0 will fund projects that tackle key areas of development in the fintech industry. The initiative was first announced in November 2022 by MAS chairman Lawrence Wong.

FSTI 3.0 will have six tracks that cover the program’s different investment activities. Three of these tracks are carried over from the previous version of the program: AI and data analytics, regtech, and industry-wide projects.

The three new tracks are the Centre of Excellence track, which will focus on supporting innovative projects within financial institutions, corporate venture capital firms, and global tech companies; the Innovation Acceleration track, which aims to invest in fintech solutions from new sectors such as Web3; and the ESG Fintech track, which looks to back projects tackling ESG data, reporting, and analytics.

See also: Can Indonesia’s ESG startups benefit from G7’s $20b commitment?

In his announcement of FSTI 3.0 in November, Wong said that the previous versions of the program helped create over 200 jobs. FSTI 1.0 distributed US$74.6 million in funds to nearly 500 projects while FSTI 2.0 saw US$149.1 million given to more than 1,000 projects.

Currency converted from Singapore dollar to US dollar: US$1 = S$1.34.