17 Fintech and Insurtech Startups Among Forbes Asia’s Top 100 to Watch in 2022

Forbes Asia has released its “100 to Watch” list for 2022 which recognizes the 100 fastest growing startups and small companies in the Asia Pacific region.

This year’s list includes 17 startups in the fintech and insurtech sectors tackling a wide range of areas, including commercial banking, wealth management, compliance and cryptocrime.

These companies, representing 15 countries and territories, were selected from over 650 public nominations and cover 11 categories.

Alami (Indonesia)

Founded in 2018, Alami is a licensed Sharia-compliant peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform for financing micro, small and medium enterprises based in Indonesia. The company, which claims to have disbursed more than USD 200 million for over 8,500 MSMEs financing transactions with a 0% default rate, has been working to become a full-fledged Sharia challenger bank, and in March 2021 acquired Sharia rural bank, BPRS Cempaka Al – Amen.

AwanTunai (Indonesia)

Founded in 2017, AwanTunai is a point-of-sale (POS) financing solution aimed at digitizing Indonesia’s vast cash economy. The company is building digital distribution, helping thousands of micro-retailers access working capital as well as accept payment from AwanTunai consumer credit, while providing consumer financing at the other end of the spectrum. AwanTunai closed an $8.5 million round in March and is valued at around $57 million.

EasyTransfer (Singapore)

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Singapore, EasyTransfer is an online payment services platform for international students. The company hosts a global network of financial institutions and partners with payment services such as Tencent, UnionPay and Cashfree Payments to offer families a streamlined and cost-effective international payment method. EasyTransfer claims more than 280,000 end users, and over USD 3 billion in transactions processed each year.

Endowus (Singapore)

Founded in 2017, Endowus is a Singapore-based digital wealth platform for Central Provident Fund (CPF), Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) and cash savings, helping people grow their money with expert advice and access to institutional financial solutions at low fees. Endowus claims to manage more than S$2 billion in assets under management and expanded to Hong Kong in July 2022.

Fano Labs (Hong Kong)

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Hong Kong, Fano Labs specializes in speech and natural language processing technology, helping companies in finance, banking, insurance and other sectors with customer service, compliance and other industries. A spin-off from the University of Hong Kong, Fano Labs offers solutions such as voice authentication, sales monitoring and compliance checks.

Finhay (Vietnam)

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hanoi, Finhay is a licensed brokerage firm operating a wealth management platform. The platform uses machine learning to identify and recommend investments for investors, and claims more than 2.7 million registered users. Finhay closed a US$25 million Series B in June to invest in strategic business expansion, talent acquisition and technology development.

G-hcare (Mainland China)

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Shanghai, G-hcare provides business-to-business health insurance data and management platforms for insurance companies. Through a global medical network and advanced risk management technology, G-hcare enables the insurance industry to offer diversified health management and insurance schemes, and improve the customer experience. The company cooperates with insurance companies such as China Life, China Taiping and Ping An.

Leapstack (Mainland China)

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in both Beijing and Shanghai, Leapstack is a technology company focused on risk control for health insurance. The company serves insurance companies, insurance intermediaries and other regulatory partners, providing them with artificial intelligence and big data-driven risk control solutions. Leapstack closed a CNY 150 million ($21.6 million) Series C in January 2022 and has been working to expand regionally.

Magnum Research (Hong Kong)

Founded by and incubated by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2016, Magnum Research is the developer of the digital wealth management platform Aqumon. The company focuses on making investment advice cost-effective, transparent and accessible to both financial institutions and retail investors, by leveraging big data and quantitative technology to enable optimal portfolio structure. Aqumon claims more 150 cooperating financial institutions.

Merkle Science (Singapore)

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Singapore, Merkle Science provides blockchain transaction monitoring and intelligence solutions for crypto-active service providers, financial institutions and government agencies, helping them detect, investigate and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities. The company secured a series A of USD 19 million in August 2022.

NewBanker (Mainland China)

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Beijing, NewBanker is the developer of customer relationship management software for the wealth management industry. The company’s platform provides a business support system for asset management organizations as well as a website acquisition system. NewBanker claims to serve dozens of financial institutions and funds in China, including China Merchants Fund Management, Harvest Fund Management and Yinhua Fund Management.

OneDegree (Hong Kong)

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Hong Kong, OneDegree is a licensed virtual insurance company offering pet, e-commerce, home, critical illness and digital asset protection for individuals and businesses. For businesses, OneDegree offers an insurance platform designed to completely digitize the insurance process. OneDegree claims to have amassed over 100,000 paid users in Hong Kong, making it the largest virtual insurance company in the city.

Payhere (South Korea)

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Seoul, Payhere is a manufacturer of mobile POS systems. The company provides software that can be used for free by anyone who downloads it, allowing small business owners to accept different payment methods affordably and conveniently. Payhere closed an $84.2 million Series A in December 2021, claiming 9,000 customers at the time.

PeopleFund (South Korea)

Founded in 2015 and based in South Korea, PeopleFund is a P2P lending platform that connects borrowers with lenders. The company leverages technology and a proprietary, data-driven credit model to deliver better loan rates for borrowers while maintaining a low default rate. PeopleFund claims to have passed the US$1 billion loan origination mark and served 400,000 retail investors.

Qapita (Singapore)

Founded in 2019 and based in Singapore, Qapita is a software-as-a-service solution provider for digital stock management. Qapita’s solution seeks to automate the share management process for startups, facilitate liquidity for shareholders and automate all processes for share issues in private markets. The start-up has secured more than USD 32 million in funding.

Thirday (Australia)

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Melbourne, Thriday is an all-in-one financial management platform for businesses, focusing on automating banking and accounting functions. Formerly known as Thrive, Thriday provides a transactional account that comes with features like expense tracking, invoicing, reconciliation, payroll, AI capabilities for budgeting, taxes and accounting, and more. The service has not yet launched, but requires over 10,500 companies on the waiting list.

Verihubs (Indonesia)

Founded in 2019 and based in Jakarta, Verihubs is an all-in-one verification platform that helps enterprises and startups in sectors such as banking, fintech, e-commerce and other digital sectors to prevent fraud. The company uses AI-based identity authentication technology and APIs to allow companies to verify returning customers through SMS, WhatsApp or flash calls. As of September 2021, it claimed 46 clients, including major banks and fintech companies.

Featured image credit: edited from Freepik