Singapore Accounts for Over 50% of All Fintech Investment in SEA

Fundraising News
08.08.2023 10:40 am

Analysts of Robocash Group have considered investment activity in Southeast Asia. According to them, Singapore is the most attractive country in the region for investment in fintech. Between 2000 and 2023, its fintech industry has attracted $31.3 bn, which is half of the total in SEA.

The analysis considered 10 countries of Southeast Asia based on data from Tracxn. From 2000 to 2023, fintech companies in SEA attracted $62.7 bn. The funds originated from 80 countries of the world, which confirms the global interest of investors.

The first place by investment attractiveness in SEA is taken by Singapore. The country’s fintech attracted $31.3 bn. One of the reasons for such an interest of investors is that Singapore provides an opportunity for businesses to expand to other markets.

The second place is taken by Indonesia ($20.8 bn), which is explained by high demand for fintech in the country and maturity of the industry’s infrastructure. The rest of the countries show much smaller funding volumes. For example, Vietnam, which continues the list, attracted only $3.8 bn. As for the number of funded rounds in the region, the situation is similar: the leader is Singapore (5416 rounds), followed by Indonesia (3248) and Malaysia (906).

Speaking about the origin of investors who invested in the region’s fintech, the USA showed the highest activity. The volume of funding coming from the country amounted to $6.7 bn - 10.6% of the total. Investors from Singapore provided almost the same funding of $6.4 bn (10.2%). As for the number of rounds, Singaporean investors remain the leaders having funded 1889 rounds compared to 1449 for the USA. So, with almost the same volumes of fintech investments, Singapore shows interest in a bigger number of companies. The third place is taken by Indonesia (986 rounds), where the majority of funded rounds are domestic (56%), similar to Singapore (54%).

“Singapore and Indonesia confirm their status as regional fintech leaders. This is also the case regarding the number of unicorn companies. Focused primarily on domestic markets, Singaporean and Indonesian investors act with lower risks and have a chance to assess the potential of fintech companies more accurately. This provides opportunities for the rapid development of national fintech,” - analysts of Robocash Group say.