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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- Closing of transaction following the approval by all required regulatory bodies
- Acquisition of industry leader in installation services, equipment, and technical facility management
- The company serves high-tech industries such as semiconductor, biopharma, and batteries
- Further strengthening of Exyte’s Technology & Services business
STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Exyte, a global leader in the design, engineering, and delivery of high-tech facilities, has completed the acquisition of Kinetics Group. The transaction, announced in April 2024, closed on October 15, 2024, following receipt of all required regulatory approvals.
Kinetics is a globally recognized leader in installation services, equipment, and technical facility management. The company’s expertise spans the biopharma, semiconductor, and high-tech industries, with operations across Asia, Europe, and North America. With the acquisition of Kinetics, Exyte significantly enhances the portfolio of its Technology & Services business area, reinforcing its position as a leader in high-tech facility solutions while also increasing its regional coverage.
“Through the acquisition of Kinetics, we are strengthening our capabilities and expanding our service offerings,” says Exyte CEO Dr. Wolfgang Büchele. “Kinetics is an ideal addition to Exyte, allowing us to capitalize on the ongoing investments in high-tech facilities. Together, we will leverage new opportunities and continue providing our clients with innovative solutions.”
With the transaction, Exyte also ventures into the field of technical facility management. Technical facility management services enable Exyte to extend its business activities beyond the engineering, planning, and construction phases, ensuring the continuity of its client relationships by offering services during operations.
Kinetics CEO Peter Maris adds: “Joining forces with Exyte provides Kinetics with a strategic partner committed to our sustained growth and excellence. Together, we will continue to serve our global clients with enhanced expertise and a broader range of high-tech solutions, ensuring ongoing success and innovation.”
Strategic expansion of Technology & Services
Kinetics will operate within Exyte’s business area Technology & Services, leveraging the combined strengths to foster innovation and growth. The business area consists of entities that provide cleanroom technology, installation services, and equipment for subsystems to their clients as well as off-site manufacturing (OSM). Exyte is currently pursuing its “Pathway to Ten” with the goal to achieve ten billion euros in sales by 2027. The business area Technology & Services is expected to contribute significantly to the company’s success in the coming years.
About Exyte
Exyte is a global leader in the design, engineering, and delivery of ultra-clean and sustainable facilities for high-tech industries. With cutting-edge expertise developed over more than a century, the company serves clients in the sophisticated markets of semiconductors, battery cells, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and data centers. Exyte offers a full range of services from consulting to managing the implementation of complete solutions with the highest standards in safety and quality to its customers worldwide. Exyte creates a better future by enabling key industries to enhance the quality of modern life. In 2023, the company generated sales of €7.1 billion with around 9,900 employees worldwide. www.exyte.net
More information about Kinetics can be found on www.kinetics.net.
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Contact
Samy Abdel Aal
Public Relations Manager
Phone: +49 711 88044696
Mobil: +49 172 840 33 01
[email protected]
www.exyte.net
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/exyte-completes-acquisition-of-kinetics-302277565.html
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
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