Weekly roundup: PH fintech startup Lista banks $5.1m and other SE Asia deals

Weekly roundup: PH fintech startup Lista banks $5.1m and other SE Asia deals

Philippines-based financial management platform Lista has announced raising over $5.1 million in its latest funding round led by Singapore venture capital firm Openspace Ventures.

The fintech startup, which targets small business owners and individuals in the Philippines, added that the funding round was also participated by existing investors, including East Ventures, Saison Capital, and 1982 Ventures.

Lista, launched in September 2021, allows both merchants and users to conveniently track the flow of money in and out, and see their profits and savings in real-time. The platform has already been downloaded more than 1 million times.

The startup plans to further expand beyond business management tools and develop products specific to personal finances. According to co-founder Khriz Lim, about 30% of Lisa’s user base are Filipinos who do not have any business but want to take charge of their personal finance.

“We believe this is a category that holds a lot of growth potential for us,” Lim added.

Singapore fintech platform Helicap raises $5m

Helicap, a Singapore-based fintech platform operating in the alternative lending market in Southeast Asia and Australia, has announced raising $5 million in a strategic funding round.

The round was led by Temasek-backed alternative asset management group Tikehau Capital and integrated Asian financial house PhillipCapital, according to the announcement.

As part of the investment, Jean-Baptiste Feat, global co-CIO of Tikehau Capital, and Grace Tang, executive director at Phillip Private Equity, will join Helicap’s advisory team.

Helicap provides an alternative lending platform to fill the credit gaps faced by consumers and corporates currently underserved by traditional financial institutions.

Its flagship private debt fund recently raised $10 million from a regional bank-backed asset management firm, making it the fund’s largest single investor.

In 2018, the firm raised $5 million in a pre-Series A funding round co-led by early-stage investor East Ventures and Singapore real estate conglomerate Soilbuild Group Holdings.

Prior to that, it had raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Teo Ser Luck, Singapore’s former minister of state for manpower, and from Nufin Data.

SOUTHEAST ASIA DEAL MONITOR

DealStreetAsia has put together a table listing prominent venture capital transactions in Southeast Asia for the week starting June 20, 2022.

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