The investment aims to win big on fintech opportunities in Malaysia.
U.S.-based fintech banking solutions provider Cross River Bank (CRB) has raised US$100 million in a Series C round led by V Capital Investments (VCI) and Israel-based Shefa Capital, VCI announced in a statement today.
The financing comes two years after CRB’s 2018 venture round, which was led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with the participation of Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital & Credit Ease.
CRB is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured bank that provides its customers with digital payments, lending, and deposit services. With key global players such as Amazon, Google, Uber, and Coinbase as clientele, it is currently onboarding 200 new enterprise customers onto their platform, the statement said.
It also noted that the digital banking solutions provider is closing in on its Initial Public Offering (IPO) next year. It expects its revenues to reach $550 million, from recorded revenues of $200 million in 2019.
VCI, which provides advisory services across industries, has also become a strategic partner for Southeast Asia with CRB. The Malaysia-based global advisory firm says this is a step toward its Digital Bank License application in Malaysia.
VCI Chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said this partnership would afford VCI the latest financial technology from the West, and the resources, market reach and technical know-how in Southeast Asia to make VCI and CRB “the leading players in the South-East Asian fintech ecosystem in the next five years.”
He added the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is picking up on initiatives with startups, investors and innovators, to give the fintech industry in Malaysia a leg up.
MDEC has implemented a slew of measures to aid the digital transformation of the country’s industrial landscape, such as the Digital Transformation Acceleration Programme and the Global Tech Fund.
“With the technological breakthroughs brought about by the partnership between VCI and CRB, Malaysia is set to witness a major fintech breakthrough which could be a catalyst that leads to further advancements in fintech,” Harun said in the statement.
According to a report by the International Monetary Fund, Malaysia is well poised to build a thriving fintech environment, and is already a regional leader thanks to widespread usage of digital payments and mobile wallets. The report states that by April 2019, Malaysia housed nearly 200 fintech startups in areas that included payments, lending, and blockchain technology.
However, to move ahead in the sector, firms have to contend with several ecosystem challenges including a shortage of tech talent, regulatory discrepancies, and access to funding channels.
Header image courtesy of V Capital Investments
