Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 11 August 2019

HK Financial services marketplace CompareAsiaGroup raises $20m

Experian, one of the largest credit reporting bureaus in the United States, announced today that it has invested in CompareAsiaGroup, the financial services marketplace. Experian led the initial closing of a $20 million B1 round.

In addition to new funding, the investment also gives Hong Kong-based CompareAsiaGroup  access to Experian’s technology, including Experian  One, a cloud-based credit scoring and risk assessment platform. CompareAsiaGroup recently opened a research and development center in Singapore to develop more tech tools and its partnership with Experian will enable it to launch new open banking services in Hong Kong that can also be adapted for other markets.

Glints secures Series B funding with Hong Kong expansion on the cards

Singapore based tech-enabled recruitment and career development platform Glints has secured its Series B funding, raising US$6.8 million (approx HK$53.3 million). Led by Southeast Asia venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures, it has plans to expand to the Hong Kong market.

Investors participating in this round included MindWorks Ventures (an early investor of Hong Kong’s Lalamove), and returning investors Fresco Capital and Wavemaker Partners. 

This latest investment will be used to grow the company’s product and engineering teams and expand into both Hong Kong’s and Vietnam’s markets to provide recruitment solutions for clients and job candidates.

China to allow domestic investors to buy HK-listed tech stocks

Chinese stock exchanges published draft regulations last Friday that will bring stocks with different classes of voting rights into the trading links between Mainland China and Hong Kong.

The new rule will allow domestic investors to buy shares of some of China's popular technology startups listed in Hong Kong for the first time. One of the potential examples is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA), which is said to raise USD 20 billion for a Hong Kong listing with the new regulations.

As several major tech firms like Xiaomi (01810) has used this new rule which permit dual-class shares to go public in Hong Kong last year, China’s authorities have been trying to find ways to keep the country's tech companies at home. 

Brinc Ties Up With Kerala’s KSUM, Maker Village For Hardware, IoT Accelerator Programme

The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) had brought Brinc, a Hong Kong-based hardware accelerator, to India to address the challenges faced by product and hardware development startups in the country. India’s first international accelerator, Brinc supports startups in understanding the global hardware market and develop products accordingly.

Brinc has launched an accelerator programme along with Maker Village and KSUM to support hardware startups working across sectors such as internet of things (IoT), robotics and consumer electronics. Brinc CEO Manav Gupta said the programme will provide comprehensive support to mid-stage startups that already have a working prototype and are ready to move to their design for manufacturing (DFM) phase.

Indian startup UrbanClap raises $75 million, with participation from Hong Kong-based hedge fund

On-demand home services marketplace UrbanClap in India, has raised $75 million in its Series E round, led by Tiger Global, with participation from existing investors, Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital and Vy Capital, the company said on Friday. This comes after the startup mopped up $50 million in November in a funding round led by Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital along with existing investor Vy Capital. 

The company currently is present in the UAE and in 10 cities in India, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune.