Pintek, Indonesia-based fintech platform that provides credit to consumers and education institutions, announces that it has raised pre-Series A funding led by Global Founders Capital (GFC). The fund was received by SoCap, Pintek’s parent company.

Finch Capital and Amand Ventures also participated in the round. Previously, Finch Capital and Amand Ventures had invested in Pintek’s seed funding together with Japan-based venture capital firm, Strive.

The company said that it plans to use the funding to “drive technological and financial innovation needed to support Indonesia’s education sector to achieve international standards for the country’s economic development”.

SoCap & Pintek Co-founder and CEO, Ioann Fainsilber, noted that Pintek will use the proceeds from the round to expand its technology platform and scale its commercial team.

Also Read: Meet the 10 Indonesian fintech startups you may have never rooted for before

SoCap, Pintek’s parent company that receives the investment, aims to grow ventures facilitating cooperation, exchange, and innovation for social impact in the region. GFC is a seed and growth investor that has backed entrepreneurs worldwide such as those behind Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Traveloka, Canva, and HelloFresh.

Tito Costa, Partner at GFC said; ”We look forward to working with Pintek’s team in their mission to provide better access to education to millions of Indonesians. The team has identified a unique, holistic approach to education financing, working in partnership with educational institutions. We are excited to support the company’s new phase of growth.”

“In line with President Jokowi’s vision to reform & improve the country’s quality of education, we find it equally important for education to be financially inclusive and accessible for all Indonesians,” said Hans De Back, Managing Partner at Finch Capital.

Established in 2018, Pintek aims to democratise access to education in Indonesia through affordable and flexible credit to consumers and institutions across the education sector. By servicing the entire education market (including K-12, Vocational, Higher Education, and nonformal), Pintek believes it can essentially service students throughout their education journey.

SoCap & Pintek COO and Co-Founder, Tommy Yuwono, stated that Pintek is keen to collaborate with the Indonesian government and wider stakeholders in helping schools and vocational institutions improve their education infrastructure and management.

Also Read: Fintech startup SuperAtom raises US$24M funding led by Gobi Partners, eyeing expansion to the Philippines

“We are excited to learn that Nadiem Makarim’s Education and Culture Ministry is placing a big focus on technology and making human capital development one of its key priorities for the next 5 years. We believe Pintek can directly contribute to Indonesia’s efforts in improving its education standards and overcome its current skills gap,” Yuwono said.

Pintek claimed that it has partnered with payment infrastructure, education technology, education suppliers, government, and foundations, and has already disbursed loans to customers in 22 provinces in Indonesia. More than half of Pintek’s borrowers were first-time borrowers, showing that consumers are willing to borrow from financial institutions to pursue better education.

Next, the company plans to launch its Syariah product next quarter.
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Digital entertainment company POPS Worldwide (POPS) announces that it has received a US$30 million funding from Mirae Asset – Naver Asia Growth Fund Investment Pte.Ltd, and Eastbridge Partners Pte.Ltd. With the funding, the investors will have a significant minority stake in POPS.

Along with the funding, the company also announces the launch of the POPS App, which the company said will deliver free high-quality premium content and original series, shows, and videos from music, entertainment, and kids.

Esther Nguyen, CEO, and Founder of POPS, said that the investment will be used to scale its direct to consumer strategy through POPS OTT application across the region as well as enter into new markets.

POPS has spent more than a decade of setting up in the digital market in Vietnam and expanding across the region. With the launch of its apps, POPS noted that it made a big move beyond digital entertainment by bringing an entertainment experience.

“More high quality original series will be produced, connecting hot actors and actresses. More shows are upcoming and more premium stories from global studios will appear on our POPS App to bring new experiences every day to our fans. Our stories bring opportunities for fans to experience and connect. We put the fans at the center of our process.” Nguyen added.

Also Read: I still feel we are the underdog: POPS Worldwide CEO

POPS claimed to have a daily-updated library of diverse storytellers, top producers, and artists that create curated and personalised content.

Ji-Kwang Chung, Managing Director of Mirae Asset Capital, said: “We believe in the sustainable competitiveness of POPS after their success over the last 10 years in digital entertainment in Vietnam and Thailand. We share their belief that POPS’ opportunities in the region are enormous.”

Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund is 50:50 joint initiatives between Mirae Asset Financial Group, independent financial groups in Asia that provides comprehensive services to clients worldwide – including asset management, wealth management, investment banking, and life insurance.

EastBridge Partners is an independent private equity firm with offices in Seoul, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh. The company focusses on mid-market growth capital and buyout investment opportunities in Asia.
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In the world of technology, where we have easy access to everything on the mobile phones, like paying bills, transferring money, checking statements, etc. then we are a part of one of the billion-dollar industry called FinTech.

Every product and every company requires marketing and throwing all the eggs in the basket of content and then letting it market the services for you is one of the best options. Content marketing can pave a successful way for your product if portrayed effectively and creatively.

Moreover, organised creative writing also helps to attract customers and this requires safe surfing on the internet to learn more about ongoing trends and its uses, while some sites serve that needs and provide content services on easy access.

 What is FinTech?

It stands for Financial Technology. The word seems simple, but it is changing the world’s economy. It includes products, technologies, business models that are building the financial service industry.

It’s the techniques to change the world by means of transferring and borrowing money. This embraces new technologies for lenders, insurers and asset managers. It is the most significant transformation in banking history.

FinTech is an emerging business that provides financial facilities to the world using modern technology. The investments in this business have increased in the past years.

As people are learning the new techniques, it’s not only making the lives comfortable and practical but is expanding the use of it globally. Around the globe, many countries are using the FinTech, and the adoption rate has reached 67 per cent in China.

Great contest is a rocket fuel

The purpose of the content is to build trust and attract users because good content could bring revenue to a company and increase its user base.

An insightful content, when promoted well, can be profitable. Good content will, therefore, be able to prove long-term brand awareness.

Fun fact: content creation and its marketing have proved to be the most powerful technique that accomplishes the goal of brand promotion and helps in better knowledge of future innovations in the world of technology.

 Content marketing for a FinTech company

For content to stand amidst competition, it should be approached in a unique way. 

FinTech companies should garner a fresher look to their content. Creativity is always the best answer, creating unique concepts and flaunting them like no one else for the marketing campaign.

Also Read: 3 promising fintech verticals in Southeast Asia

To paint a more precise picture lets look at some of the techniques and strategies for good content to market. Content marketing is not an easy task as it requires creative ideas, here we have discussed some strategies to better position your content.

1. Know your audience

Learning and evaluating the demands of the customers and clients is one of the crucial steps to focus before writing content for a FinTech company.

In general, we have no time to read boring content, make it catchy and creative.

2. Focus on the goal

Do not go out of the track. Keep your strategy clear and straight. Evaluate the points that need to be focused and set goals not to lose the main purpose.

3. Organise

Before churning out for ideas to create the best quality content look for an organized set up for your content. The key factors and keywords that need to be part of it. Create a best-opted life cycle for content to be written.

4. Choose the best team

Choose a competent team to work with you. The more productive the environment, the better are the outputs. For fantastic content, constructing an amazing team is a crucial step.

5. Think outside the box

The best content has a revolutionary look that from the mind of an ordinary human turned extraordinary. The most creative idea wins the hearts of people and is easy to catch eyes. Originality always helps in creating the best impacts.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with ideas. A new strategy that has not been used earlier can be a daring way to win people and influence your brand globally. An influential idea or some brand awareness in a new trick never turns out to be a bad idea.

The ideas that are already prevailing in the rest of the world may not be a good trick to catch hearts and win the market. Everyone demands new methods and ways. Likewise, an annoying email is not a good idea, but a catchy advertisement on YouTube or any search engine may serve as a good trick. 

6. Don’t be frugal with quality

Quality over everything. Keep everything later and priority on the first number. Your content should not be satisfactory but outstanding.

It’s easy to write so many blog posts and publish them, but if they are not aligned to the brand’s story, you will lose.

7. Build trust

Trust is the key to every relation. Likewise when we need to make homes in the hearts of people, building a trustworthy relationship is necessary.

Do not add false techniques and catch customers in glittery traps. They might get you people at the initiative, but for a long-lasting mark, it’s more than essential to create a secure connection.

8. Go social

Social media is one of the best technologies ever designed to explore and share new ideas.

We need to learn about the audience and the targeted website that we can use by getting engaged with the world such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest or Facebook.

Also Read: A sneak-peek at the state of Malaysias fintech ecosystem

Each has its own clients and is of advantage to share the ideas of the newest technologies. The hacks of Social media engagement can serve as a way of changing the concept for a brand.

9. Engage with the world

Make sure to engage with the customer either through social media or emails. According to a research 7 out of 10 customers prefer to know about a company through articles, rather than ads.

Send relevant analyses and advantages through emails and education about the ongoing trends and future technology is way too important. 

Conclusion

FinTech is the upcoming rising technology in the world of mobiles and comfortable “on one-click” access. It is an advancement in the world of banking.

But before starting a Fintech company it’s vital to look for its promotion, and the best answer is to create outstanding content that matches the services the company provides.

Moreover, the key factors that need to be looked for in a remarkable material to make a mark are by far the most important thing.

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Singapore clinches the second position for the highest percentage growth of open source contributors and overall contributors worldwide, according to the latest The State of the Octoverse Report by software development platform GitHub.

The country recorded a 111 per cent year-on-year percentage increase in contributors to all repository types. Coming on top of the list in this category is Hong Kong at 175 per cent, followed by Indonesia with a 90 per cent growth.

Generally, developers in Asia are making their mark in this report with the soaring number of their participation on the platform this year.

In the category of open source contributors, Hong Kong tops the list with a 101 per cent increase in comparison to the previous year, while Japan observes a steady year-on-year growth with a 60 per cent rise.

Indonesia also experienced a 42 per cent growth of open source projects in the platform, the only Southeast Asian country in the category.

Also Read: What are the next steps for startups graduating from an accelerator program?

“Asia’s contributor community has surpassed ones in Europe and North America in annual growth. This indicates a substantial shift in Asia Pacific, from being a consumer to increasingly becoming a contributor to open source,” Sam Hunt, Vice President APAC at GitHub, responded to e27‘s query about the factors that contributed to this phenomenon.

“Southeast Asia is a big part of this shift. The report shows 111 per cent growth in contribution in Singapore. The country is home to a strong startup scene and, once again, this is a testament to the realisation that consumption is not the only value proposition of GitHub. GitHub is more than just a place where you download code. It’s where technology, collaboration and the world’s largest developer community converge and, together, drive innovation,” he continued.

The rise of Asia

The State of the Octoverse Report defines contributions as any substantive action that generates content on GitHub, such as creating an issue, opening a pull request, or commenting on an issue or pull request.

The report stated that over the past year, 10 million new developers joined the GitHub community, contributing to more than 44 million repositories across every continent.

Also Read: ICE71 announces top ten cybersecurity startups from second batch

GitHub said that 88 per cent of these contributors are from outside the US. On average, each open source project on GitHub welcomed contributors from 41 different countries and regions this year.

“Every year since 2014, we’ve seen more open source contributions from outside the United States,” it said.

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Image Credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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Sage and Standard Chartered partner to help SMEs make smarter financial decisions- Press release

Cloud business management solutions provider Sage announced a new partnership with Standard Chartered to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with access to the right tools, knowledge, and funding, to simplify SME banking and support them in making more timely and insight-driven financial decisions at critical stages of their business lifecycle.

Sage CashView is now available to both current and new users of Sage 300 starting with Singapore and Malaysia. The launch of Sage CashView that combines new cash flow reporting tools with a prequalification to apply for business installment loans (BIL) to help SMEs anticipate and address future funding needs is the first tool of their partnership.

The Sage CashView digital dashboard will offer SMEs a user-friendly pictorial view of the business’ key ratios and results at a glance, and a 1-day to 365-days financial forecasting capabilities, to anticipate possible financial roadblocks. Combined with Standard Chartered’s embedded decision framework, a message will appear on the dashboard which will inform users that they are prequalified to apply for the Bank’s business installment loan (BIL).

Standard Chartered will be able to access only the minimum information required for initiating the loan application process, with consent from the user, this feature offers SMEs easier access to working capital without compromising on data security and privacy.

KKR evaluates IPO of Chinese digital marketing firm Cue- [Bloomberg]

KKR & Co. is considering an initial public offering of Chinese digital marketing company Cue Holdings Ltd. that could raise as much as $400 million, people with knowledge of the matter said in a Bloomberg report.

The company is working with financial advisers on the potential share sale, which could take place as soon as the first half of next year, according to the people. It has been considering Hong Kong and the U.S. as potential listing venues, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Cue seeks to help Chinese companies with their digital marketing strategy to boost their business growth. Its clients include consumer brands, financial institutions, online gaming companies, and internet service providers.

In August, Cue completed a series A financing round led by Anchor Equity Partners to fund research and development, add-on acquisitions and improvements in Cue’s products and services. KKR, which was Cue’s founding investor, and Princeville Global also participated.

No final decisions have been made, and details of the IPO could change, the people said. A representative for KKR declined to comment.

Game publisher Sky Mavis raises $1.5m funding led by Animoca Brands- [DealStreet Asia]

Singapore- and Vietnam-based blockchain startup Sky Mavis bagged nearly $1.5 million in a funding round led by ASX-listed games and app developer Animoca Brands, according to a DealStreet Asia announcement.

The round was joined by the Korean crypto fund Hashed, Swiss Pangea Blockchain Fund, US-based blockchain solution provider ConsenSys and early-stage VC firm 500 Startups. The lead investor said it subscribed to $420,000 worth of ordinary shares in Sky Mavis in cash and its own shares. It has also signed advisory and collaboration agreements with the owner of blockchain-based game Axie Infinity.

The advisory agreement will see Sky Mavis provide consultation services in the areas of scarcity models, as well as the design, development, and distribution of non-fungible tokens. Sky Mavis will use proceeds from the funding round to complete its offerings within the Axie Infinity universe and launch an app in the first half of 2020.

Also read: Blockchain startup Terra gets funding from HashKey Capital, to expand alliance in Asia

It will also be building technology required to create blockchain-based applications for users in the real world.

Reliance Industries Ltd has increased its stake in US-based SkyTran Inc., a venture-funded technology company that is developing pod car transport systems.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance said in a stock market disclosure it has increased its stake in SkyTran to 17.3%. It did not disclose the financial details.

Reliance Industries in India hikes stake in US-based futuristic pod car developer SkyTran- [VCCircle]

RIL, through wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd, picked up a 12.7% stake in SkyTran in October last year. At the time, it had said it had the option of investing an additional US$25 million in the US company.

Founded in 2011, SkyTran says it aims to solve the problem of traffic congestion globally by creating a transport option that is high-speed, scalable and low-cost. The company, which has partnered with National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the US and Israel Aerospace Industries in Israel, has developed the magnetic levitation technology for implementing personal transportation systems.

The proposed SkyTran network would consist of computer-controlled passenger pods running on its patented Passive Magnetic Levitation technology. It will leverage information technology, telecom, lnternet of Things and advanced materials technologies for the purpose.

RIL said its investment in SkyTran is now housed under another unit, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd.

Image credit: Pixabay

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