CEO of Revolut Nikolay Storonsky
Blockchain security startup CoolBitX takes home US$16.75M in Series B led by SBI Crypto Investment
CoolBitX, a blockchain security company that builds the infrastructure to close the gap between the mainstream market and crypto industry, has announced that it has closed US$16.75 million in Series B funding round led by Japan’s financial group SBI Holdings. National Development Fund of Taiwan, Korean crypto exchange BitSonic, and Japanese financial group Monex, also joined.
With this funding, CoolBitX plans to expand the Sygna product line’s presence beyond the APAC region as the first-to-market FATF-compliant solution for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) around the world. It also plans to continue to innovate its bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet CoolWallet S, its flagship product with a focus on security, functionality, and usability.
In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its latest standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, requiring VASPs of FATF member countries to comply with Recommendation 16 aka the “Travel Rule.” With this rule, crypto exchanges must collect and transfer customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) during transactions. CoolBitX launched Sygna Bridge in October 2019, providing VASPs with the first market-ready solution so that they may be fully FATF compliant.
More than 10 exchanges have signed Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with CoolBitX, joining a consortium of VASPs to begin or consider implementing Sygna Bridge.
Founded and based in Taiwan in 2014, CoolBitX is helmed by Founder and CEO Michael Ou, who’s also a fintech entrepreneur. Ou is also Chairman of SmartDisplayer Technology, a 20-year old family business and the publicly traded company that pioneered banking security solutions.
Revolut raises US$500M in Series D funding, a business valued at US$5.5B
Global financial platform Revolut today raised an additional US$500 million in Series D funding, taking the total amount raised so far to US$836 million.
Also Read: Revolut plans on taking over the growing cashless society in Asia post Singapore launch
The new funding round was led by US-based growth capital firm TCV, with a number of existing investors also participating.
The latest funding round put the business valuation at US$5.5 billion.
The new capital will be focussed on the customer experience and used to strengthen Revolut’s core retail and business offering in existing markets, with a particular focus on product development that will help accelerate daily usage of accounts.
Future plans include lending services for retail and business customers, extending high-interest savings accounts beyond the UK, further improving customer service, premium and metal subscription accounts, adding more workforces, and rolling out banking operations across Europe.
Thai coding talent platform QUEST receives funding from REAPRA
Thailand-based coding talent platform QUEST has received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Singapore-based VC firm REAPRA.
The company’s CEO and Co-founder Kirk Pathumanun said that the funding will be used to develop real-time coding talent platform through a full-stack automated teaching curriculum tracked and identify skill sets. The company monetises service by workforce reskilling program.
The company plans for an expansion to the online conferencing business partnering with Reach LeanSpace, turning it into a turnkey solution for education SMEs in Thailand.
Singapore’s Tonik Financial snags US$6M funding to launch a digital bank in the Philippines
Tonik Financial, a Southeast Asian digital bank based in Singapore, announced today it has raised US$6 million in an equity funding round, led by Insignia Ventures Partners and Credence Partners, with participation from regional family offices and angel investors.
As per a DealStreetAsia’s article, it will use the funding to support the launch of its digital bank in the Philippines after its subsidiary – Tonik Digital Bank – received approval from Bangko Sentra Ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, to provide digital banking services, such as retail banking, deposits, and consumer loans, in the country.
Also Read: US-based JUUL introduces its smokeless e-cigarettes in Indonesia
The financial technology company was founded by CEO Greg Krasnov in 2018. Tonik was built by fintech venture builder Forum, which was also founded by Krasnov and it provides retail financial products, including deposits, loans, current accounts, payments, and cards on what the company considers as a highly secure digital banking platform.
E-cigarettes firm JUUL Labs halts sales to Indonesian retailers
Stating the conduct of a global reorganisation exercise, operations, strategies and organisation reviews in each of its markets looking to reset the category and earn the trust of society, e-cigarette JUUL Labs‘s distributor in Indonesia, PT JUL, has paused new sales to the retailers in the country indefinitely.
“At JUUL Labs, while we aim to provide the ~67 million adult smokers in Indonesia with an alternative to combustible cigarettes, it is also critical to us that underage smokers do not have access to the product,” said Ken Bishop, President, APAC South, JUUL Labs.
“That is why, together with PT JUL, we have taken the decision to suspend sales of our products to physical and online retailers in Indonesia indefinitely until we have had the opportunity to fully evaluate our ability to work with these retailers to increase and enforce age restrictions and compliance measures,” Bishop continued.
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Picture Credit: Revolut
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