The AMTD Solidarity Fund has announced its first batch of investments, which include startups in AI, SME financing, insurtech, cross-border payments and card payments.
The fund, backed by AMTD Digital and the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), has invested S$11.5 million in five companies: SME digital financing platform Funding Societies, cloud-based conversational artificial intelligence Active.ai, credit card enablement platform Cardup, B2B cross border payments company Transwap, and insurtech company PolicyPal.
The investments were made through a mix of structures, including equities, convertible notes, venture debt, warrants and options, an announcement on Tuesday said. According to the announcement, the Solidarity Fund received more than 40 applications from Singapore-headquartered fintech companies. The five funding recipients will also get open access to AMTD's SpiderNet ecosystem, which provides opportunities for them to collaborate with each other across Asean countries, Hong Kong and China.
In June, AMTD acquired a controlling stake in PolicyPal, through which it aims to develop and expand in the Southeast Asian insurtech sector. Funding Societies is also part of an AMTD-led consortium vying for a digital bank license in Singapore.
Lifeline for Fintechs
The fund was launched in April by AMTD Digital – the Singapore-headquartered digital solutions subsidiary of Hong Kong financial services group AMTD – and partners AMTD Charity Foundation and AFIN, with an initial capital of S$50 million to support and anchor eligible fintech companies registered on AFIN's API Exchange (APIX) platform during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
