Exploring AI
All eyes are on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI). Our industry is still experimenting with the technology and we are no different, but it will come as no surprise that AI is already part of our daily activities and our ventures have incorporated AI in their businesses.
For example, TASConnect, our bank agnostic supply chain finance platform, seeks to create models to identify risks across 46 factors in the three verticals: supply chain, credit and ESG, by processing real-time news feeds to project their impact. letsbloom, our cloud platform-as-a-service, has a live AI tool that solves for secure adoption of AI/GenAI solutions in regulated industries and empowered a G-SIB Bank to prototype OpenAI use with security and compliance — slashing the turnaround time from eight months to just a few days, saving around 39,000 man-hours. letsbloom is in the process of getting this adopted by the Bank in order to enable GPT 3.5 usage.
In partnership with Standard Chartered’s Wealth and Retail Banking team, we launched an open challenge on our FinTech Bridge community platform, looking for AI solutions to revolutionize Retail Banking/Wealth Management. The response was impressive. Wealth Management is set to trial AI-generated advisory content for Priority Banking. Simultaneously, we’re assessing how AI might expedite searches within our vast Knowledge Management System (of 11,000 documents) — stay tuned.
Beyond the ventures, we are validating technology enablers from SaaS platforms offering legal tech and productivity tools (like RobinAI and ParrotAI), to emerging new models and vector databases (like Weaviate).
In addition to AI, below is a look at the progress our ventures have made over the past quarter, from onboarding new clients and securing partnerships, through to winning awards.
Digital Assets
Digital Assets are here to stay, but in need of institutional adoption, requiring a robust and sustainable infrastructure.
Interest in digital assets remains strong. Together with Standard Chartered, Mox Bank and Mastercard, our venture Libeara, a tokenisation platform, completed a proof-of-concept pilot on tokenised deposits and tokenised carbon credits through regulatory sandbox.
Libeara will also be co-hosting the inaugural Real-World Asset Summit in Singapore, which is expected to unite over 150 DeFi and TradFi leaders. FundBridge Capital’s Singapore-Dollar Government Bond Fund, which leverages Libeara’s tokenisation platform, has opened for subscription from accredited investors.
Zodia Custody, our digital assets custodian, has launched two new offerings: Interchange, which offers off-venue settlement, and a dedicated custody service offering for governments and law enforcement bodies to provide compliant, specialised custody services for seized and illicit digital assets.
NAB Ventures, the venture arm of National Australia Bank, has invested in Zodia Custody, which means the fintech is now backed by five major financial institutions — with Standard Chartered, Investcorp, Northern Trust, and SBI Holdings.
Zodia Markets, our institutional-grade digital assets trading venture, acquired Elwood Trading Desk to strengthen its over-the-counter business. In Q2, it also announced partnerships with CoinMENA to enhance liquidity on fiat-crypto trades and Fireblocks to address the challenges of correspondent banking and improve efficiency.
Online Economy & Lifestyle
The rise and integration of the online economy is a key driver for growth. Financial services need to support digital lifestyles in such economies.
Appro, our venture based out of the Middle East that digitises, streamlines and simplifies the retail banking user journey, has signed three new bank partners. It has secured two proof-of-concepts with an auto distributor and a bank. It has added Reem Finance PJSCas a partner to enhance customer onboarding experience. In addition to winning the Fintech World Cup at the Dubai Fintech Summit, Appro was recognized as Best Fintech Solutions Implementation for its onboarding solutions by MEAFinance Banking Technology.
audax, our banking-as-a-service venture, has partnered with Paymentology to allow financial institutions to launch card programs quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need for complex infrastructure development. They were selected to join Mastercard’s Start Path program.
SMEs & World Trade
World trade is a crucial engine for global welfare and GDP growth, but SMEs still struggle with inclusion in the global economy and access to the financial system.
Olea reported a cumulative throughput of US$1 billion and has US$1 billion committed funding from investors. Olea has secured two partnerships: with YES Bank to enhance trade finance propositions and with SWIAT, a blockchain-software developer that is also one of our portfolio companies, to tokenise trade receivables.
SOLV India, our B2B e-commerce platform, has onboarded 400,000 verified retailers within 40 months of going live. The platform has grown significantly — its Q2 2024 revenue grew 92% from Q2 2023, its Q2 2024 gross merchandise value grew 35% from Q2 2023.
SOLV Kenya has appointed Robert Masinde as CEO. Robert held senior positions with Citigroup and Standard Bank South Africa, where most recently he led the bank’s corporate payment business strategy and governance across 39 countries.
Over the past quarter, TASConnect has secured two partnerships: with Gravity Supply Chain to optimize physical and financial supply chains on one platform; and with Inspur Group to drive scalability, sustainability and profitability for Chinese enterprises and the international market. NEC Thailand and AIRA Factoring will be leveraging TASConnect’s solutions to offer enhanced services. TASConnect also signed an MoU with Standard Chartered Bank China to develop new solutions for international trade, supply chain services and cross-border e-commerce.
Sustainability & Inclusion
Corporates and banks have yet to fully integrate sustainability and financial inclusion into their business models.
myZoi, our fintech focused on financial inclusion and literacy for the underbanked, launched the UAE’s first inclusive digital wallet for low-income employees. myZoi’s Digital Wallet reduces remittance fees for low-income employees, allowing users to transfer money home to up to five people for the cost of one. In addition, myZoi has partnered with Apparel Group to drive financial inclusion for over 4,000 employees.
Forging Ahead
Over the past quarter, the industry has recognized our business model with several awards. audax won the Celent Model Bank Award for Embedded Finance. Zodia Custody won the Global Digital Assets Custody award at Citywealth’s Magic Circle Awards 2024.
At Dubai Fintech Summit, the 10 ventures showcased made a strong impression – six were finalists at the Fintech World Cup and our venture, Appro, won the top prize.
We have launched Spark Innovation – a platform that will help colleagues share ideas, collaborate and spark innovation from within. This will allow internal business and functions to identify new business models as well as ways to reduce costs and increase productivity.
We held our second Digital Week in Japan this month hosting key clients and partners. Building on last year, more than twice the number of clients attended this year. TASConnect was also present, focusing on business development and bringing its capabilities to the Japanese ecosystem.
Last but not least, we are strengthening our SC Ventures team: Elsy Li has joined as an Operating Member based in Hong Kong to lead capital raising, leveraging her decades of experience in this area. Michael Cutler has also joined in Singapore as Head of Technology bringing significant core tech experience as well as strong specialist expertise in AI, blockchain and sustainable tech innovation.
Our ventures’ collective progress in earning recognition and forging partnerships is a validation of their business models. Please reach out if you are interested in any of the news mentioned above, if you think they are relevant for any of your clients and/or if you would like to co-create client solutions with us.
Alex Manson
CEO, SC Ventures
