Hi fintech friends,

Fintech updates are back to normal in India after a short break during Diwali. Asia continues to make big waves with fund raises, crypto launches and more.

Please enjoy all the news and updates from the past week in today’s edition. If you feel TWIF brings you value, please share it with your friends (and maybe suggest they subscribe too).

Editor’s Note: If you’re an early-stage startup founder raising equity or debt, I may be able to help - reach out to osborne@thisweekinfintech.com.

Want to be a This Week in Fintech - Asia Sponsor? Reach fintech founders, industry professionals and enthusiasts. Email me at sponsor@thisweekinfintech.com.

🦉🏆 Tweets of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. The government plans to regulate digital gold as a security under SEBI (securities regulator).
2. PhonePe crossed 2bn monthly transactions milestone.
3. An HSBC survey reported that 80% of global Indians make investments in India.
4. Indian Income tax department conducted searches at a fintech company's offices.
5. National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) received in principle license for an Account Aggregator.
6. PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, gained ~23% over the IPO price, giving it a ~$7.26B valuation.
7. Paytm made its stock market debut in India, raising $2.5bn in India's largest IPO, however, it's shares fell by more than 27% on opening day.
8. The international arm of NPCI and Network International partnered for UPI payment system in UAE.
9. Nithin Kamath, Zerodha's cofounder called for the government to bring in checks on crypto and forex trading platforms.

🚀 Product Launches

1. Early Salary, an instant credit startup, partnered with Zaggle for employee lending solutions.
2. JM Financial launched Bondskart.com, a retail bond trading platform.
3. CashFree launched Token Vault Service, its tokenisation product.
4. Comviva partnered with Strands to offer an integrated digital banking, wallet and payment solution for customers of banks and other financial providers.
5. Razorpay launched Multi QR Codes, a multi payment method QR code product.
6. Paytm Money launched AI-powered voice trading.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. SEBI (securities): Released a consultation paper seeking to put a cap on IPO funds that can be deployed for M&A's.
2. RBI (central bank): Released a report of the working group on digital lending which made several recommendations.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Velocity, a revenue based finance startup, raised $20mm.
2. GoKwik, a commerce enablement startup, raised $15mm.
3. GuardianLink, an NFT marketplace, raised $12mm.
4. pSTAKE, a crypto staking startup, raised $10mm.
5. Defy (previously Walrus), a social crypto exchange startup, raised $5.5mm.
6. Tickertape, a capital markets information and research startup, raised $5mm.
7. Clinikk*, a health insurance and tele consulting, raised $4mm.
8. SalaryBox, a staff payout management startup, raised $4mm.
9. Doola, a US incorporation services startup, raised $3mm.
10. Raise Holdings, a wealth and stock investing startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

Acquisitions:

1. Credlix, Moglix's supply chain financing platform, acquired NuPhi, a cross border trade financing startup.
2. Avail Finance, a blue collar financing startup, acquired YeLo, a blue collar neo banking startup.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. Inward Remittances to Pakistan crossed $10.6bn between Jul-Oct, 2021.
2. CoinHako, a Singaporean crypto exchange, received digital asset token services license from Singapore's MAS.
3. BSP, the Philippine Central Bank, plans to build a regional instant bank transfer network. It's already integrated with Singapore.
4. OVO, an Indonesian payments startup, launched a fixed income product.
5. Omise, a Southeast Asia payments platform, partnered with i2c for SEA payments.
6. Smartpay launched BNPL payment option for its Japanese customers.
7. Pine Labs partnered with Standard Chartered to launch BNPL for customers in Malaysia.
8. KoinWorks, an SMB finance startup, plans to launch its neobanking feature for SMB's.
9. Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) partnered with TPL Trakker, an IoT platform, for auto financing underwriting.
10. Alibaba reported an 81% drop in profits as China cracks down on big tech.
11. Bitdeer, a Singaporean crypto mining company, announced a merger with a SPAC to list in the US at $4bn valuation.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Airwallex, an Australian cross border banking startup, raised $100mm.
2. Ula, an Indonesian B2B commerce marketplace, raised $23.1mm in Series B extension.
3. Sleek, a Singaporean SMB services startup, raised $14mm.
4. Pomelo Pay, a Singaporean (and UK) payments startup, raised $10mm.
5. Moduit, an Indonesian wealth management startup, raised $4.5mm.
6. Maria Health, a Philippine digital health insurance marketplace, raised an undisclosed amount.
7. Lista, a Philippine digital book keeping startup, raised an undisclosed amount.
8. Arbo Works, a Singaporean fintech startup, raised an undisclosed amount.
9. Abhi, a Pakistani financial wellness startup, raised an undisclosed amount.

🌏 International

Please find our global coverage and consider subscribing.

• US and Global, written by Nik Milanovic published on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
• Europe and UK, written by Michael Jenkins published on Monday’s.
• Latin America, written by Christine Chang, published on Friday’s.

🧐 Looking for context, deep dives and further insights?

Read the latest edition of Fintech Inside, also authored by me. New editions get published every Sunday at 9AM IST.

📜 Notable Nuggets

1. Tiger Global: How to Win
2. Cash No Longer King in Latin America
3. How to Move Money in the 21st Century by a16z
4. Liquidity miners: hands of 💎 or 🧻?
5. Debit cards are hidden financial infrastructure
6. They Love Crypto. They’re Trying to Buy the Constitution.

If you’ve made it this far - thanks! As always, you can always reach me at osborne@thisweekinfintech.com. I’d genuinely appreciate any and all feedback. If you liked what you read, please consider sharing or subscribing.

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