Syfe has recorded ten-fold growth in users and assets under management
Singapore-based digital wealth management platform Syfe has closed a Series A round of funding with gains of SG$25.2 million (US$18.6 million), the company announced in a statement today.
The round was led by U.S.-based venture capital firm Valar Ventures, and saw participation from Apeiron Investment Group Founder Christian Angermayer’s global venture capital fund Presight Capital, as well as Syfe’s seed investor U.K.-based investment firm Unbound, the statement said.
The fresh funding will enable to company to branch out into new markets, expand its product and service lines, grow its team through fresh hiring, and further develop the company’s tech platform, the statement also said.
The company had previously raised SG$5.2 million in a seed funding round led by Unbound last year, with angel investments from MD, State Street Global Advisors, David Rogers, MD and Head of Equities at UBS Japan Paul Redbourn, and KKR Partner Philip Freise.
The entire fundraising process for the Series A round took place during the pandemic, the company said, adding that Valar Ventures has invested a significantly higher amount in Syfe than it has for other early-stage startups.
“The need to invest for the future has become even more evident during these times of increased uncertainty… This fundraising allows us to sharply accelerate our growth to help even more individuals plan, save and build their wealth for the future,” Founder and CEO, Syfe, Dhruv Arora said in the statement.
“We are delighted that Valar Ventures, with their wealth of experience in building successful fintech companies globally, has joined our mission. This fundraising is a pivotal moment in Syfe’s journey and reflects our investors’ confidence in our team and vision,” he also said.
Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Syfe was founded 2017 and launched two years later in 2019. The automated digital wealth management platform provides robo-advisory services with the option of human advisory support across a range of wealth management solutions.
The company’s customer-base and assets under management (AUM) have grown by 10x since the start of this year, the statement said. Nearly half of its new users have been referred to the platform by Syfe’s existing ones. Syfe’s customers are based across 23 countries, the statement added.
Some of the company’s key products include its Global Automated Risk-Management Investments product, a mix of equity, bonds and gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and the dividend-based REIT+ portfolio, developed with the Singapore Exchange and based on its iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index.
The company also newly launched its Equity100 portfolio, a smart beta portfolio for investments in ETFs covering over 1500 global companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Procter & Gamble, and Alibaba.
“The potential of Asia as a region–with a fast-growing number of mass-affluent consumers aiming to grow their wealth, combined with the pedigree of the team and strong traction makes Syfe a very compelling opportunity. We look forward to partnering closely and contributing toward Syfe’s growth trajectory,” Founding Partner, Valar Ventures, Andrew McCormack said in the statement.
Digital wealth management is a fast-growing fintech segment due to its scope for digital transformation. Robo-advisory, which refers to algorithm-based automated financial advisory, is expected to become a $1.4 trillion dollar industry this year, with global AUM expected to cross $987 billion.
The Asia Pacific region may specially benefit from this, since wealth in Asia is expected to see the highest regional growth rate to reach $58.2 trillion in five years, according to a 2019 study.
This is conditional, however, on the diffusion of digital financial services within the region, which is where fintechs such as Syfe come into play. Asia is severely under-served by financial solutions, building a case for fintechs to reverse the trend, to make financial management more accessible and help users do more with their money.
Header image courtesy of Syfe
