Fintech PR
Fintech platform for the underserved middle class Surfin raises US$12.5 million from Insignia Ventures Partners, as it sustainably uplifts 60 million lives across 3 continents
SINGAPORE, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Surfin, a financial technology platform dedicated to serving the underserved middle class, has raised $12.5 million from Insignia Ventures Partners. This funding round comes as Surfin announces its service to 60 million individuals across eight countries on three continents, with approximately $2.7 billion in cumulative transactions.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Singapore, Surfin began with consumer lending and expanded into a suite of financial services including payments and remittance, credit card issuance, and wealth management. Leveraging AI and analytics, Surfin is committed to offering an ecosystem of transparent and innovative financial services to the growing middle class that is often overlooked by traditional banking systems.
The company has a significant presence in Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Uganda, and Australia. In Indonesia, its largest market, Surfin holds licenses for P2P lending, mutual fund distribution, remittance, and payment gateway services.
This Series A round marks Surfin’s first external funding since its inception, having been bootstrapped and self-financed without any third-party debt.
Surfin’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Yanan Wu, said: “Surfin’s vision has always been to build a financial technology services ecosystem on top of our scalable and sustainable risk management system, powered by AI and big data. This system has been stress-tested by the behavior of 60 million users across three continents. Recently, we’ve leveraged this system to launch remittance, payment, wealth management, and credit card services, deepening our mission of financial inclusion in the markets where we operate.”
In 2023, Surfin launched Ayovest in Indonesia, a mutual fund trading platform designed for young, first-time investors to invest productively and safely, starting from as low as IDR 10,000. Ayovest has been operating under the license of the OJK since its inception.
Also in 2023, Surfin established its credit card business in Mexico, “Sufinc,” in partnership with Visa. Sufinc offers a credit card designed to strengthen Surfin’s consumer finance presence in Central America, with flexible payment terms, no annual fees, and global acceptance.
Seasoned Finance Executives Drawn to Surfin’s Mission of Financial Inclusion in the Era of AI
More than 2500 people across the globe have joined Dr Wu on Surfin’s mission. Its leadership team includes former Shopee, Akulaku, and Baidu executives. Surfin is also advised by a board composed of accomplished, multi-hyphenate finance
Surfin’s Board Member, Nobel laureate Michael Spence, commented:”Surfin has the potential to reshape financial mobility and inclusion for millions of families globally. I have a long-standing interest in asymmetric information in markets and the challenges it presents. Surfin’s approach to addressing the information challenges of credit access through AI and data science is innovative and much-needed. It’s a privilege to support its mission of advancing financial inclusion.”
Surfin’s ecosystem of products is powered by a unified credit scoring engine, enabled by AI and data analytics. This core technology allows Surfin to lend sustainably at scale across different geographies and enter new financial service use cases.
Surfin’s ambitions to scale its consumer loans business and reach more consumers across income classes with a full suite of products, from robo-advisory to remittances, laid the groundwork for the partnership with Insignia Ventures Partners and Surfin’s first round of institutional funding.
Founding Managing Partner Yinglan Tan shares, “Surfin represents two key shifts in the way companies are growing from Southeast Asia. It is a company headquartered and operating in the region, but with a multi-country presence and global ambitions from early on. It is also a company leveraging the wave of AI transforming industry to deliver more equitable credit access to the underbanked. In a space that is highly competitive and challenging at scale, this combination of proven multi-market entry with licensed multi-jurisdiction products and robust risk management capabilities positions them in a unique place to scale. Their operational track record is more impressive considering they have been bootstrapped thus far. We are privileged to be working with Dr Wu and his team to scale their financial services ecosystem further, both in terms of reach and use cases.”
Know More About Surfin: https://www.surfin.sg/
Article: https://review.insignia.vc/2024/10/08/surfin-series-a/
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Fintech PR
Hastee reaches profitability as Earned Wage Access solutions become the norm for top employers
LONDON, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hastee, one of Europe’s leading providers of earned wage access (EWA) and financial wellbeing solutions, is proud to announce that it has reached profitability. This marks a significant milestone in its journey to empower employees with greater financial flexibility and control. The achievement comes amid rising demand for on-demand pay solutions, with destination employers now frequently citing these as a necessary benefit to attract, retain, and engage staff.
Founded with a mission to improve the financial resilience of workers, Hastee has grown rapidly since its launch and now has over 350 employer clients spanning nearly all sectors. Notable customers include global leaders in hospitality (such as McDonald’s, Domino’s and Taco Bell), top international retailers (such as IKEA, Mediamarkt and DIA), major healthcare organisations (such as Bupa and the NHS), and many more of the world’s leading employers (such as Unilever, PayPal, Iberia Express and EY).
Hastee operates in 4 of the 5 largest European markets for earned wage access: UK, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal. In 2020, Hastee acquired Typs, one of Southern Europe’s leading financial wellbeing solutions, enabling Hastee to build a unique multi-language, multi-currency, and flexible platform ready for further international scaling. Hastee is majority-owned by IDC, a multi-fund platform with $2.2B AUM, through its innovation vertical IDC Ventures.
Hastee’s solution is built on 3 pillars of financial wellbeing: Earn, Learn, and Grow. Employees can use the award-winning Hastee app to track their earnings, access earned pay flexibly, receive personalized bite-sized financial education and save directly from their payroll. The app is one of the most popular financial wellbeing apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with a user rating of 4.7 in each.
“We are extremely proud to be among the very first EWA providers globally to reach profitability,” commented Hastee CEO Jaime Jimenez. “The combination of rapid growth of our customer base alongside a cautious approach to spending has paid off: we have built a highly sustainable business that can service its clients without the need for further external funding.”
Jimenez continued: “Financial wellbeing has risen to the very top of the agenda among HR leaders, and we are honoured to have a role to play in supporting employees improve their financial health, while also helping our clients reach their ambitious ESG targets.”
“We are thrilled to support Hastee in reaching this pivotal moment,” shared Alejandro Rodriguez, co-founder and Managing Partner at IDC Ventures. “Hastee’s focus on financial wellbeing aligns perfectly with IDC Ventures’ mission of backing impactful companies that make a positive difference. We’re excited to be part of this journey, providing real value to both the end users and our partners. This achievement reflects the strength of Hastee’s model and the growing importance of solutions that empower individuals to take control of their financial health.”
About Hastee
Hastee is a financial wellness platform that allows employees to access a portion of their earned wages before payday, helping them manage cash flow and avoid debt. The platform integrates with employers’ payroll systems and provides users with flexible, on-demand access to their earnings. Hastee currently has over 350 employer clients spanning nearly all sectors. Learn more by visiting Hastee.com.
About IDC Ventures
IDC Ventures (IDCV) is a venture capital platform within IDC Network, a global multi-fund asset manager. Serving as the Partner of Choice for over 150 family offices across 30 countries, IDCV offers a diverse range of venture capital opportunities including proprietary funds, co-investments, and co-managed funds in collaboration with industry-leading managers. With $500M in assets under management, IDCV typically leads funding rounds and holds board seats, offering founders guidance drawn from deep expertise in entrepreneurship, banking, law, and consulting. Since its inception in 2019, IDCV has backed transformative founders from Series A to growth stages, with a primary focus on fintech and marketplaces in Europe, the US, and Latin America—particularly Brazil and Mexico. For more information, visit IDCVentures.com.
Media Contact:
Ernesto Bernado
[email protected]
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hastee-reaches-profitability-as-earned-wage-access-solutions-become-the-norm-for-top-employers-302277028.html
OSLO, Norway, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Akastor ASA invites investors and analysts to a webcast presentation of the third quarter 2024 financial results on Wednesday, 30 October 2024.
Date and time:
Wednesday, 30 October 2024, at 15:00 CET
Presenters:
- Akastor: Karl Erik Kjelstad, CEO, and Øyvind Paaske, CFO
- HMH: Thomas McGee, CFO, and David Bratton, SVP FP&A and Operational Finance
Link to webcast:
https://akercreativehub.eventcdn.net/events/akastor-audiocast-q3-2024
Questions can be submitted throughout the streaming event. The presentation material will be published on www.akastor.com and www.newsweb.no at 07:00 CET on 30 October.
For further information, please contact:
Øyvind Paaske
Chief Financial Officer
Mob: +47 917 59 705
E-mail: [email protected]
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/akastor-asa-invitation-to-presentation-of-third-quarter-2024-results-302277549.html
LONDON, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Greenbrook, the specialist communications advisor, is pleased to announce the appointment of former European Commissioner and Lead non-exec director at HM Treasury, Lord Hill, and the return of the City advisor, David Trenchard, as advisors to the firm.
Lord Hill is the former European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. He was Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster from 2013 to 2014. He has been Lead non-executive director at HM Treasury and is Chairman of the Ditchley Foundation. He carried out the UK Listings Review for the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2021.
David Trenchard, who was an advisor to Greenbrook from 2014 to 2022, brings over four decades of experience in finance. Most recently, he was Engagement Director at Elliott Advisors. David began his career at Morgan Stanley, rising to become a Managing Director in Equity Capital Markets and Head of Corporate Broking.
Andrew Honnor, Managing Partner of Greenbrook, commented: “We are delighted to welcome both Jonathan and David to our team. Their considerable experience across policy, markets and finance will provide deep insight to our clients as they navigate the evolving challenges and opportunities in the current macro-economic environment.”
Lord Hill commented: “I’ve known Andrew for two decades, and have looked with admiration at what he has achieved at Greenbrook. I look forward to joining his team and hope I can add something to the firm’s growing success.”
David Trenchard commented: “It is a pleasure to return as an advisor to Greenbrook, a leader in complex communications issues. I look forward to working with Greenbrook’s clients across various situations.”
Lord Hill and David Trenchard join Michelle Pinggera, Simon Walker and Piers Dennison as advisors to Greenbrook. Michelle joined Greenbrook in July 2018 and is the former International Chief of Staff and Partner at Goldman Sachs. Simon joined Greenbrook in March 2017 and was previously Director General of the Institute of Directors, Communications Secretary to HM Queen Elizabeth II, advisor to former Prime Minister John Major, and Chief Executive of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. Piers joined Greenbrook in July 2021 and is a former Partner and Head of Investor Relations at Park Square Capital.
Contact details:
Ksenia Galouchko / Demi Kurban
Greenbrook
+44 20 7952 2000 / [email protected]
About Greenbrook:
Greenbrook provides strategic communications advisory services to the investment industry. We work with clients across the following asset classes: private equity, venture capital, private debt, hedge funds, activist funds, infrastructure and real estate, and traditional fund management.
We advise our clients on all aspects of their business through the lens of reputation, helping to build and protect value.
Greenbrook has advised on over $58 billion of corporate and sovereign debt restructurings over the last 12 months. Greenbrook was ranked by Bloomberg as the #1 advisor in Europe for engaged shareholder communications in 2023. The firm ranked among the top #5 in Europe by Mergermarket and the #1 PR and communications firm in Europe by Private Equity Wire.
For more information, please visit www.greenbrookadvisory.com or follow Greenbrook on LinkedIn.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/greenbrook-appoints-lord-hill-and-david-trenchard-as-advisors-302276721.html
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