Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 6 September 2021

‘Knowledge-as-a-service’ platform Lynk lands funding from UBS’ Investment Bank

 Lynk, the “knowledge-as-a-service” platform with more than 840,000 experts, announced today it has added to its previously announced Series B $5 million raised from UBS’ Investment Bank division. This brings the round’s new total to $29 million.

The strategic investment marks the first time UBS has invested private equity in Lynk. The startup, which has now raised $35 million in funding, added UBS as a client in 2020 before striking a collaboration with them in May, giving the banking giant’s research analysts and institutional investor clients access to Lynk’s database and tools.

Crif invests in Know Your Customer

Leading banking credit information provider CRIF today announced a global commercial partnership with award-winning RegTech company Know Your Customer underpinned by a strategic financial investment into the firm. A global company based in Bologna (Italy), CRIF specialises in credit bureau and business information, as well as advanced digital solutions for business development and open banking.

Know Your Customer is an award-winning RegTech company headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Singapore, China, Ireland, and the UK. It provides digital solutions for corporate KYC and client onboarding automation to financial institutions worldwide.

LVL Secures Pre-Series A Funding to Fuel Growth

LVL - the wellbeing platform that provides digital wellbeing content for enterprise organisations around the world - announced a $3m+ Pre-Series A investment round that was completed earlier in the year, with participation by Atlas Asset Management, Standard Chartered Bank, AngelHub and a number of angel investors. The investment has enabled LVL to grow their team in strategic locations in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe & North America, as well as accelerate the development of their new digital wellbeing platform, due to be released later this year.

LVL - formerly Switch & Co - pulled off a big pivot at the very beginning of the COVID pandemic, shifting from a marketplace aggregator of physical wellbeing services for corporate users to building and launching a wellbeing streaming platform within 4 weeks of the first COVID lockdown taking effect in March 2020. The new streaming platform was initially launched to anchor client (and now strategic partner) Standard Chartered Bank’s global employee base of 86,000 people in 59 markets.

YAS MicroInsurance Raises Pre-Series A from 500 Startups To Bring Protection and Care to Southeast Asia

Every Partner Matters! YAS MicroInsurance, a leading microinsurance innovative startup headquartered in Hong Kong, has partnered with and closed a Pre-Series A funding led by 500 Startups, a reputable global venture fund and seed accelerator for early-stage startups supporting their access to capital, mentorship, and community. Proceeds from this round will help YAS MicroInsurance to further strengthen its core R&D and accelerate its expansion in the SEA market.

As a next-generation InsurTech startup, YAS has launched several epochal products in recent months, such as 'RYDE with YAS', a pioneering microinsurance that provides in-app on-demand 90-min protection for passengers anytime, and 'BUS RYDE', the world's first smart transportation card embedded bus passenger protection, seamlessly auto-connecting transport journeys with insurance policies through OpenAPIs delivering care, convenience and a new imagination on insurance to over 7 million commuters in Hong Kong.

Qianhai strives to facilitate Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation

The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone celebrated its 11th anniversary of establishment on Aug. 26. Over the past 11 years, Qianhai strives to prove itself as a highlight in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and an ideal option for Hong Kong investors as its main economic indicators continue to surge in the first half of 2021, despite the ongoing pandemic.

Currently, Qianhai is home to about 11,500 Hong Kong-invested companies, who made up over 10 percent of registered enterprises making tax contributions in the area. These companies' registered capital in Qianhai has reached 1.28 trillion yuan and the actual utilized Hong Kong capital accounts for 92.4 percent of Qianhai's total actual utilized overseas capital.