Hi fintech friends,

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).

✨ Fintech Happy Hour

After a successful first fintech happy hour in Bangalore, I’m excited to host the next Fintech Happy Hour! This time we meet in Delhi NCR.

Delhi NCR is home to several fintech unicorns, including the two public fintech startups - Paytm and Policybazaar. The region has a thriving fintech ecosystem and I can’t wait to get everyone in the same room!

Save the date for Wednesday, 27th April, 2022.

If you’d like to sponsor the happy hour, please email me at connect@osborne.vc

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

Want to be a This Week in Fintech - Asia Sponsor? Email me at sponsor@thisweekinfintech.com or see our sponsorship information here.

🦉🏆 Tweets of the Week

🇮🇳 India

📰 Market Updates

1. OneCard added South Indian Bank as its latest credit card bank sponsor partner.
2. Inoviti Payments was granted a patent for double debits settlement system in digital payments.
3. Poonawalla Fincorp (previously Magma Fincorp) partnered with KrazyBee to disburse $130mm in loans.
4. Zerodha reported a 60% YoY growth in revenue and profit for FY2022 (ending Mar-2022).
5. Life insurance companies have reported a 37% growth of new premiums in March, 2022. LIC, India's largest life insurance company, grew 51% during the same period.
6. Udaan, a B2B marketplace and finance startup, raised $200mm in debt financing.
7. Mudrex claimed to be the World's largest crypto index investing startup with 250K investors.
8. IRDAI, India's insurance regulator, may allow 100% FDI for new insurance license applicants.

🚀 Product Launches

1. ChargeBee partnered with Razorpay to launch subscription billing in India.

📝 Regulatory Updates

1. IRDAI (insurance): Released an advisory against Even, a hospital healthcare subscriptions startup.
2. RBI (central bank): Released a notification regarding credit and debit card issuance and conduct.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange, raised $135mm at $2bn valuation.
2. Kinara Capital, an SME finance startup, raised $50mm (equity and debt).
3. FinancePeer, an education finance startup, raised $30mm.
4. Recur, a revenue based finance startup for SaaS expenses, raised $30mm (equity and debt).
5. Loop Health, an employee health benefits startup, raised $25mm.
6. Vayana Network, a supply chain finance startup, raised $15mm.
7. Stockal, a US stock investment startup, raised $9mm.
8. SaveIN, a surgery financing startup, raised $4mm.
9. Koshex, a wealth management startup, raised $2.1mm.

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🌏 Asia

📰 Market Updates

1. BillEase, a Philippine BNPL startup, raised $20mm in debt.
2. T-Hub launched as Asia's first crypto clubhouse in Bali.
3. Binance partnered with a Thai Energy Company for its entry strategy in the country.
4. Kredivo, an Indonesian BNPL company, launched Infinite Card, a virtual BNPL card.
5. FundPark, a Hong Kong based SME finance company, raised $250mm in debt.
6. Tiki, Vietnam's largest ecommerce company, launched TikiCoin, a blockchain based rewards system.
7. Stripe launched PayNow payment acceptance method in Singapore.

💰 Financing Announcements

1. Abhi, a Pakistani earned wage access startup, raised $90mm.
2. MetaLend, an "NFT-as-collateral" lending startup, raised $5mm.
3. Doxa, a Singaporean industrials marketplace and finance startup, raised $2.2mm.
4. JiPay, a Singaporean fintech startup for immigrants, raised $1.3mm.
5. Hyperithm, a Tokyo and Seoul-based digital asset management startup, raised undisclosed funding.

ACQUISITIONS:

1. Alibaba's ANT Group acquired a majority stake in 2C2P, a South East Asian payments company.
2. Thunes acquired Tookitaki, a Singaporean fraud management startup, for $20mm.

🌏 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.
• Africa, written by Benjamin Dada.

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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