Kristal.AI is looking to ”Shopify” wealth management as it expands to the Middle East and India with its unique technology platform. e27 spoke with Asheesh Chanda, Co-founder and CEO at Kristal.AI for a discussion of what makes their proprietary technology and wealth management team stand out in the marketplace for personal wealth management services.

Age of digital transformation

Asheesh feels that private wealth management services are increasingly becoming digital as companies like Kristal.AI apply technology to innovate new engagement models. “Wealth management has been a human-intensive business. While the managers used tools for risk management, personal finance, and KYC, their customers rarely had an experience that tech-driven. Technology was used mostly to deliver services but not personalise services,” explained Asheesh.

The biggest issue, according to Asheesh, is that without digitally enabled service models, personal wealth managers are limited in their capability to deliver individual and personalised services to multiple customers.

“Now, customers are asking for real-time access to their portfolio and ability to make their own investment decisions,” he continued. With tech-savvy customers demanding digital access to monitor their wealth investment portfolio, “this has made many wealth managers invest in building their own customer portals,” explained Asheesh. “But this is not easy, as they lack resources and the knowledge of technology providers,” he added.

Also read: Sagri: Bringing agriculture to the future and sustainability to the forefront with satellite data, AI, and GRID

Management fees have been reducing over the years, as advisors play on fees to attract new clients to them. To make the economics work, they acquire multiple clients, but this makes it hard for them to offer personalised services to their clients. Hence, they are investing in tech to be able to provide a consistent experience to all their clients. But this is easier said than done as most advisors or wealth managers lack the resources or the skill set to build a tech interface for their clients.

That is where Kristal’s platform comes in. As a digital proprietary wealth management platform, Kristal.AI can offer a single platform that solves all the digital needs for private wealth managers. Asheesh states that “Kristal is trying to be the digital platform for wealth managers with all the tools like risk management, trade execution, financial planning, and CRM integrated into a single offering. We are trying to Shopify the wealth management space.”

Achieving growth through Channel Partners

When Kristal entered the India market in early 2020 with the model used in Singapore, they realised they were competing with personal financial advisors rather than private banks. In a market that is driven by long-standing relationships, these financial advisors had already earned the trust and confidence of their clients. Weaning these clients away was hard and time-consuming. Partnering seemed a better way to move forward. Kristal believed that in India where clients have high trust in their personal wealth managers, joining hands with these advisors as channel partners to leverage and combine that trust with the tech capability of Kristal is the right growth strategy.

Also read: How Geotab continues to reinvent the transport industry through tech

This is where Kristal focused its channel partner strategy — helping traditional family wealth managers onboard their clients to their digital platform. The strategy has been an unqualified success since Kristal launched its Channel Partner business in mid-2020. In 12 months since launching their ‘Shopify’ model, partners and clients already account for 10% of the AUM on Kristal and represent the company’s fastest-growing business segment. Kristal has onboarded more than 75 family offices and wealth managers, managing around $10 billion in client assets.

Asheesh explained how they work with partners: “Wealth managers subscribe to our product free of cost and onboard their clients on the Kristal.AI platform. Partners can customise their fee models and product offerings based on client needs. Kristal charges a certain platform fee and passes the balance to the partners.” Aligning with the established practices of traditional wealth managers, Kristal provides them with an all-inclusive tech platform.

Empowering personal wealth managers

Traditional wealth managers are thus empowered to continue to operate their traditional fee models and product offerings while focusing on achieving scale through client acquisition. “Kristal saves them from making investments in tech and allows them to spend their time acquiring and servicing clients,” says Asheesh. Apart from saving them the cost of building their own technology platform, Kristal’s platform enables partners to deliver a private banking experience that is more transparent and personalised, thanks to its AI-enabled advisory.

For Kristal’s channel partner customers, the offering continues to provide the same benefits: investors will be able to access institutional products just like those offered by private banks but at a lower investment ticket size. “As a customer, you can get access to the widest range of premium investing products and advisory services at super low ticket size. There are zero account opening and account maintenance charges,” adds Asheesh.

Also read: Imagining communities: building localised digital experiences with CiPPo corporation

A channel partner growth model nicely aligns with the overall mission of Kristal.AI to democratise private banking and get institutional products within the reach of more investors. As partners experience the benefits of working with clients on Kristal’s technology platform, the company hopes that more and more financial advisors will recommend Kristal.AI to their clients. This model will allow Kristal.AI to rapidly grow within the large and affluent segment of HNWI clients based in India and the UAE and realise its vision to be among the top 10 wealth managers of Asia

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Kristal.AI

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‘Create2Earn’ metaverse Chillchat bags US$1.85M led by Solana Ventures

“Create2Earn” metaverse Chillchat has secured US$1.85 million in a seed funding round led by Solana Ventures.

Several blockchain gaming and Web3 investors participated, including FTX Ventures, Animoca Brands, Griffin Gaming Partners, A&T Capital, YGGSEA, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Diamond Hands Ventures, and the PKO Investments syndicate.

The funding will be utilised to expand Chillchat’s product and growth teams to further develop its Web3 tools, channels and infrastructure.

Founded in 2019, Chillchat is a pixel art gaming metaverse that runs on the Solana blockchain. Its “Create2Earn” virtual world focuses on user-generated content that players can quickly and easily create in the form of non-fungible-token (NFT) characters, pets, worlds — all on mobile or browser — and instantly buy, sell, or trade with other players.

Also read: More than hype: 3 reasons why NFTs are here to stay 

Chillchat creates a first-generation digital community of limited 1,500 “Origin” characters. These handcrafted and animated Origins will spawn all future Chillchat characters.

The startup’s unique tools include Pixel Editor for players to create and mint NFTs, World Builder to build new worlds, and World Scripting to convert self-built worlds into fully functioning games.

Singapore’s M-DAQ buys B2B cross-border payments provider Wallex

M-DAQ, a Singapore-based fintech firm facilitating cross-border transactions with forex (FX) solutions, has acquired Wallex, a B2B cross-border payments provider with licenses in Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore. 

In addition to the amount paid for the complete acquisition, M-DAQ will inject fresh working capital to accelerate the Wallex business.

“M-DAQ will be the upstream FX provider to supply Wallex with the necessary liquidity it needs to run its core payments business,” said M-DAQ Founder and Group CEO Richard Koh. “This B2B2B2C business model is an ecosystem of businesses that complements each other, reduces duplication, increases efficiency, and ultimately reduces transaction costs for the end clients, as economies of scale are materialised.”

M-DAQ clients can utilise Wallex’s versatile electronic tools for funds transfers through its existing currency corridors, further improving reporting accuracy and regulatory reporting requirements.

Also read: The next fintech innovation will be a customer-led phenomenon

Founded in 2016, Wallex offers services in more than 180 countries. Businesses can benefit from advanced multi-currency solutions to collect payments via virtual accounts and hold funds in a digital wallet.

Wallex also supports fintech firms in Asia to build cross-border offerings tailored to their customer needs with customisable APIs.

Uzbek fintech firm IMAN nets US$1M seed round to foster BNPL in Muslim-majority markets

Uzbekistan-based Islamic fintech startup IMAN has closed its US$1 million seed round led by Singapore- and US-based institutional investors, alongside some unnamed angels.

The backers are Battery Road Digital Holdings, Tesla Capital, Uzcard Ventures, MyAsiaVC, Le Mercier’s Capital, Block0, Vector Crypto Capital, and IT-Park Investments.

The investment will help IMAN scale its technology to integrate seamlessly with retail partners, both online and offline, to provide finance in seconds across Uzbekistan.

The startup also plans to aggressively roll out partnerships with merchants across all sectors, including beauty & fashion, FMCG, and services, and explore opportunities in other Muslim-majority markets in early 2023.

Founded in 2020, IMAN offers IMAN Pay, a “halal” buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution catering to Muslim-majority markets, and IMAN Invest, which allows people across the world to fund consumers’ purchases directly at the point of sale.

Via the two products, IMAN said that it provides halal BNPL and builds halal funding sources for such service. In this way, IMAN Invest finances profitable projects offline at IMAN Pay outlets. Profit is then is divided between the partner investor and IMAN every three months.

Also read: The rising era of buy now, pay later in APAC

The startup boasts that its halal BNPL has now connected to more than 100 merchants offering goods and services across consumer electronics, household appliances, sports, healthcare, and education.

Besides, IMAN Invest has also clocked more than 30,000 active users and managed US$1.2million from more than 1,000 retail investors based in over 60 countries.

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Image Credit: Chillchat

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Singapore-based Princeton Digital Group (PDG) has closed an over US$500 million equity investment, with Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company leading the round with a US$350 million injection.

Its existing shareholders, Warburg Pincus and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

The funds will enable Princeton Digital Group to deepen its presence in Japan, India, Singapore, China, and Indonesia and accelerate its expansion plans into other markets.

Established in 2017, Princeton Digital Group invests, develops and operates internet infrastructure. It serves internet and cloud companies and financial institutions with scalable internet infrastructure and data centre services.

Headquartered in Singapore with a presence and operations in China, India, Indonesia, and Japan, Princeton Digital Group operates a portfolio of 20 data centres with over 600MW of secured capacity and spanning five countries.

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, CEO (Real Estate and Infrastructure Investments) at Mubadala, said: “PDG is a leading data centre infrastructure platform operating in an attractive market with strong tailwinds and catering to rising demand from the hyperscale segment and more broadly Asia’s digital economies. We look forward to working with PDG to capitalise on the growth opportunities and create a sustainable, long-term value creation.”

In 2020-21, PDG had raised nearly US$600 million. This included a US$230 million from China Merchants Bank in April 2021 and a US$360 million round led by Ontario Teachers in October 2020.

Asia is one of the fastest-growing data centre regions globally, driven by solid market fundamentals such as a large base of internet users, the growth of digitalisation, high levels of data usage and an increasing tech-savvy young population.

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I had spent two years working as a French language teacher for high-school students. In love with languages and the process of learning, I dreamt of being a teacher since childhood and considered this profession a perfect fit for myself.

Later, I’ve given up teaching for pursuing copywriting, working as a ghost and an essay writer for college students between whiles.

Now, I’m a professional copywriter and guest contributor, currently blogging at Bid4Papers and freelancing as a content creator. I do data research, content writing, repurposing, and distribution.

Why I decided to make the change

I loved the actual teaching. But when I chose this profession, I forgot about one tiny detail: introversion!

All collaboration and social interaction behind the class was hard to handle: noisy kids, regular talks with parents, — let’s face it, far from all agree with a teacher’s feedback, arguing rather than listening — group work… They all drove me nuts.

Stresses and burnouts were not long in coming. And the time is ripe for my disillusion with a teacher’s daily routine. Every time I went to the class, I thought I couldn’t deal with the school environment anymore. It was a kind of work depression, with all physical and mental problems that it implies.

The moment of truth

It was my boyfriend who helped me drive home to reality. One day, after I came back from school nervous and willing to ‘kill those who invented parents’ evenings,’ he said, “It’s just not your thing.”

And it was that very moment, after two years in school, when I stopped and thought first about what was MY thing, actually.

I took a seat, a sheet of paper, and a pen; I wrote down my hard and soft skills to see what work I could do that would fit my inwardness as well. I even checked different coding boot camps in Chicago, believing in the power of cross-skilling and IT for my future career.

Also Read: Beyond burn out: Why you should also celebrate the pursuit and not just wins

But long story short, writing appeared to be the best option to try.

How did I go about making the shift?

It was a game-changer that led me to a successful career as a content architect in love with neuro-copywriting. And it allowed me to beat the impostor syndrome and reach (finally!) a work-life balance.

Once I left my school job, I started looking for freelance writing opportunities. I had two problems that day: I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything besides academic writing, and I was strapped for cash.

So, I joined the team of writers at Bid4Papers, who helped students with academic papers. It wasn’t an entirely kosher activity, but it helped me network, polish my writing skills, and take the next step toward professional copywriting and ghostwriting.

My mistake was to consider this work something terrible and unfair.

I didn’t work on building a personal brand and promoting my writing services because of that. And it cost me tons of nerves, portfolio absence, and problems with self-identification.

Hundreds of my articles were live online without my name in bylines. It led to difficulties with getting freelance offers – people wanted to see my work, but I couldn’t provide them with anything worthy.

But once I’ve managed my self-presentation, I already had enough background and skillset to ask fair charges for my services.

The most challenging thing about shifting to a startup

I was leaving my comfort zone of a nerdy academic and stepping outside some of my inner principles.

It was more like a struggle with my demons, my one-sided vision of education, and my rose-tinted glasses about noble people in a business world. But thanks to this struggle, I was able to adapt my knowledge and skills to the market demand.

Also Read: Why I left Silicon Valley to build a coding boot camp in Singapore

Online courses, webinars, niche blogs, and conferences on copywriting and digital marketing were (and are!) my best friends to stay tuned, polish my skills, and get inspiration for new writing projects.

Also, I am lucky to work with professional editors who are strict but fair to say something like, “It’s bulls**t, revise it all!” or “Your grammar sucks, go and re-read Strunk’s Elements of Style!” They don’t allow me to relax and stop learning.

The biggest lesson

There’s no pure black or pure white in this world. To succeed, you need to develop emotional intelligence and adapt to that grey reality.

Don’t stop learning and trying new things. Even if it seems useless or controversial at first, every skill you have will come in handy one day.

If you feel uncomfortable with your career, it’s never late to make a turn. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, you will doubt. And yes, many will try to dissuade you.

But it is better to take the risk than spend years doing something that doesn’t bring comfort and harmony with your inner self.

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Image Credit: helloimnik

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Urbanmetry, an AI-driven city and property data company in Malaysia, has closed its pre-Series A round of US$2 million led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

The Kuala Lumpur-headquartered startup will use the money to develop intelligent data products and platforms to serve end consumers in the property and mortgage markets. A portion of the capital will be used to build out its product, technology, data, and business development teams, as per a press note.

Urbanmetry is a property data company that harvests, cleans, and analyses large amounts of city data through artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms to extract trends and patterns in the built environment.

It offers this data to public and private sectors to create a more efficient and transparent property market, improve city planning, and shape a sustainable urban environment.

Also Read: Monk’s Hill Ventures head of talent’s guide to startup jobs search in Singapore

“For years, our engineers have been building in-house AI and data-powered solutions to help banks, government, and property developers better quantify risks and opportunities in the real estate market. However, the data gap is detrimental to both key industry players and individual homeowners alike. In the future, our team plans to push the technological envelope further to better fund homeowners and build sustainable cities for our shared future,” said Urbanmetry CEO and Founder Koh Cha-Ly.

Urbanmetry boasts over 150 corporate clients in the region, including UEM Sunrise, Kuok Group, RHB Bank, and the World Bank. Clients partner with Urbanmetry to conduct their due diligence and analysis of the housing and property market before making multimillion-dollar investment decisions.

In addition to providing data and insight to institutional clients, Urbanmetry also offers products for the homeowner. To assist homebuyers in making their mortgage commitment, Urbanmetry has launched Nowcast. This AI-driven service helps homebuyers forecast the value of their homes based on machine learning from 90 city data variables. Nowcast reports are available through banks in Malaysia to mortgage applicants today.

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