SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Through collaboration between Seoul Fintech Lab (SFL) and Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), Korea’s fintech startups met up for exchange with investors and the related industry workers in Southeast Asia.
SFL hosted the online 'Seoul Fintech Meet' as part of the 10X Extension in Singapore on the 10th. This event was promoted to introduce Seoul to the world as an emerging global fintech city, and help domestic fintech startups in their global market entry.
It was a meaningful event to introduce Korea’s fintech startups dreaming for global market entry through video conferencing, while face-to-face networking has been disabled due to the spread of COVID-19.
At the start of the event, an online ceremony for the MOU signing between SFL and SFA was held. Both parties also agreed on cooperation to develop the fintech industry and foster fintech startups, raising expectations to play important roles in shared growth of both cities.
In their welcoming speeches, Managing Director HoHyun Ko of SFL and President Chia Hock Lai of SFA promised to provide every support necessary in the information exchange and growth of fintech startups in Seoul and Singapore.
Gug-hyun Im, Head of Financial Industry Team, Division of Economic Policy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government gave a special presentation titled “Seoul, the City of Fintech and Innovation” where he introduced the city’s support for fintech and financial industries and also proposed a blueprint for developing Seoul into a city of global financial competitiveness.
Julien Ng, Assistant Director of Fintech & Innovation Group at Monetary Authority of Singapore presented about “Support for Fintechs in Singapore.” Ng expressed his wish for Korean fintech startups’ entry to the Singaporean market, while explaining about a plan to open personal communication channels for Korean fintech startups.
Then, SBCN, XQuant, Finhaven, Fin2B, and 800m, the SFL startups, pitched their businesses. At the networking session, the Singaporean participants and SFL startups gathered up around virtual tables prepared for each startup. The participants chose a table and freely engaged in networking with the startups.
Through close cooperation with SFA, Seoul Fintech Meet was made within the Singapore Pavilion of Singapore Fintech Festival, the world’s largest event of its kind. As a result, over 110 Singaporean local investors, accelerators, and fintech companies pre-registered for the event.
“Seoul Fintech Meet was a meaningful opportunity to meet with the members of Singapore’s fintech industry,” said CEO Sang-hyun Son of SBCN. “As Korean fintech startups are receiving a high level of attention in the Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, we will build competitive power and accelerate our entry into the market.”
“Singapore is a country where the most number of SFL startups have entered. This city state holds significance as companies that have entered this market can expand their business across Southeast Asia,” said HoHyun Ko, Managing Director of SFL. “This event was organized through collaboration with SFA to help Korean fintech startups find a way out of their difficulty in global market entry. As much as so, I hope this meet-up will provide them with substantial assistance.”
SFL supports a business space for up to two years to startups and provides the “Accelerating” programs according to the growth stage of each startup, such as on mentorship and educational and marketing support. SFL organizes online meet-ups to help the startups in their global network expansion along with several programs to assist in overseas market entry including support for participation in leading fintech exhibitions and conferences abroad and preparation for IR, marketing, and PR.
You can watch the Seoul Fintech Meet 2020 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IlMWg3iOwQE.
SFL Startups Participated in Seoul Fintech Meet
1. SBCN (www.sbcn.co.kr)
SBCN is a fintech company that provides financial big data and AI-based investment information content services. It independently operates the “Investment Master” app, a B2C investment information platform, while providing the “Investment Master” service to large-scale securities companies in Korea.
2. XQuant (https://www.xquant-ai.com/)
XQuant is a fintech company that specializes in the processing, analyzing, and servicing of unstructured financial data using artificial intelligence technologies, such as machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). Currently, XQuant is providing service to financial and market to market companies with TS-Expert Solution, a commercial program to extract, process, and save the necessary unstructured data by item in the non-standardized outside dealing contracts.
3. Finhaven (https://www.finhaven.com/)
Finhaven, a fintech company that has obtained a license in Canada for integrated operation of the function as a securities company, exchange, clearing institute, and depository on a platform, is opening up a new world of electronic securities. Finhaven plans to integrate the global financial market by opening Finhaven Private Markets in Asia and Europe.
4. Fin2B (https://www.fin2b.com)
Fin2B provides the fully digitized SaaS (subscription economy)-based supply network financial platform service to the financial institutes in Southeast Asia. Fin2B supply network financial platform service enables efficient operation of financial institutes while keeping their burden to a minimum.
5. 800m (www.go800m.co.kr)
The management philosophy of 800m, an insure-tech startup, reflects the experience of the company’s founder and CEO performing as an insurance planner for over ten years. This company develops services by understanding the needs of the financial industry and customers. Established with a group of IT experts, 800m sells and maintains financial products through untact channels. 800m’s critical mind is gradually winning response in the market.
About Seoul Fintech Lab
Seoul Fintech Lab was established in 2018 by the Seoul Metropolitan City. In October 2019, the Lab moved its office to Seoul's Yoido so that it can raise its competitiveness by strengthening interactions with financial firms in the area. The Lab provides spaces to fintech startups for up to two years while providing accelerator programs which are startup custom-tailored to their growth needs. The Lab plans to increase the number of startups within it to 100 in 2020.
