The influence of China in advancing fintech is likely to grow even stronger in 2017 with news that a new institution has accumulated a substantial war chest of funds to invest in fintech across Asia.
Asia FinTech FOF, a foundation that targets financial and tech mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Asia, has been established according to a report in the China Daily.
The foundation, with funds of $1.44 billion, is the second fund of funds (FOF) after the Zhongguancun FOF, which was established in 2015.
According to Xie Sha, Managing Partner of Asia Fintech FOF, the fund already has projects in the pipeline, covering big-data driven consumption financing, blockchain infrastructure provision and AI-based credit service platforms.
China The Indisputable Leader
Several reports in 2016 rated China as the indisputable leading fintech market with Hangzhou-based Ant Financial taking the top spot in the 50 Established Innovators list, and compatriots Qudian, Lufax and Zhong An also in the top five.
In the third quarter of 2016 Asia was the only continent to see a fintech funding increase on a quarterly basis while in both North America and Europe fintech funding declined. But unsurprisingly, given the geopolitical backdrop, all three continents saw fintech deal count drop.
Propelled by the Chinese market, the Asian fintech market saw $10 billion of investment in the first half of 2016, compared to North America's $4.6 billion and Europe's $1.8 billion.
