By: Alex Manson

December is here in the blink of an eye. This year has been a whirlwind of activity — I am proud of all that we have accomplished as a team at SC Ventures, and excited for 2024.  

A few highlights in 2023: 

• Project Jigsaw – a strategic, legal restructure of SC Ventures’ subsidiaries and investments to create a dedicated SC Ventures holding structure outside of bank’s deposit taking entities and position ourselves for future growth  
• First portfolio exits – Metaco and CardsPal  
• Geographical expansion – SBI Digital Assets joint venture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); Olea expanded into Vietnam; TASConnect entered both Vietnam and India; Zodia Custody entered into Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong; Zodia Markets entered into the UAE 
• Venture Milestones – launched 5 ventures (audax, Libeara, myZoi, SWIAT, Tawi); raised funds amidst a challenging climate (myZoi and Zodia Custody) 
• Reviewed 300 ideas (of which 65% came from Intrapreneurs) - we currently have 36 ventures (across various stages of development)  

It was a major year for digital assets, with increasing recognition for our achievements in this space and several of our ventures winning awards (see below for an appendix of 2023 SC Ventures activities). One significant milestone is our partnership with SBI Holdings to set up a digital asset joint venture in the UAE, a region fast becoming a hub for fintechs in the digital asset space. The joint venture will leverage our experience through ventures such as Zodia Custody, Zodia Markets, Libeara, and SWIAT, and through our investments in partners like Ripple and Metaco.  

We are rounding out the year with a strong 4^th quarter, which was the season for Hong Kong, Singapore and Abu Dhabi Fintech Weeks. At these conferences, our joint presence with our ventures and the Bank showcased how we are working together to create a safe and robust digital asset infrastructure. 

At HKFTW, I joined industry participants and shared how traditional financial services providers are “claiming our seat at the table” (that was the title, but I said there was always going to be an “adult table” whereas the “kids should have maybe stuck to orange juice”), while Harald joined a GFT x Metaco panel and shared how we are building the financial infrastructure of the future. In addition, we launched our immersive gamified experience Standard Chartered Verse on The Sandbox.  

During SFF, we launched Libeara, our tokenization platform. In partnership with FundBridge Capital, Libeara will enable the creation of the first tokenized Singapore Dollar Government Bond Fund for investors.  

Also congratulations to audax, our digital banking technology solutions provider, for winning the Singapore Regionals of the Dubai Fintech Summit Fintech World Cup (send them your best wishes as they head to Dubai for the semi and grand finals in May 2024). 

With the ongoing objective to foster an encouraging ecosystem for our ventures, during the 2023 Venture Lab Day, we showcased our high conviction themes and how our ventures are charting growth in the new economy. We had a great turnout for the seven panels. Check out the recap and video from each panel here.

Looking ahead at 2024, just in January, I’ll be attending CfC St. Moritz, Davos, and I’ll travel again to the Middle East where we will be strengthening our presence with a new opening.  

Wrapping up 

Someone on our last call characterized this year as a "roller coaster": we have had our fair share of highs and uncomfortable moments, and in fact I use this analogy often to describe what a day, or indeed a year feels like emotionally at SC Ventures. But the reality is that our roller coaster, unlike in amusement fairs, has made steady progress and caused meaningful impact in the context of our mission: rewiring the DNA in banking and financial services. 

I will leave you again with what we told the Board of Standard Chartered Bank in the first bullet points of our exec summary:  

• We were set-up a little over 5 years ago to rewrite the DNA in Banking, and in doing that we have created a business 
• We are committed to this business being well controlled, both from a risk & compliance standpoint and financially (as we made our 2023 plan) 
• The adjacencies across our ecosystem, which includes not just ourselves but our ventures, partners, and the Bank, are transformational and powerful 

Thank you to the team, the Bank, our clients and fintech partners for each playing an important role on this journey, charting growth for financial services in the new economy - I am very proud of you all and full of anticipation for what we will achieve together going forward. 

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2023 SC Ventures Achievements & Activities 

In 2023, we reviewed 300 new venture ideas (65% Intrapreneurs/Standard Chartered Bank & 35% from clients) which has now brought our portfolio to 36 ventures across four high-conviction themes and three stages: 

• Incubation: 10 ventures are currently in Incubation 
• Acceleration: 5 ventures are in Acceleration 
• Commercialization: 21 ventures are either in Beta testing phase or launched 

Portfolio Progress 

Project Jigsaw – a strategic, legal restructure of SC Ventures’ subsidiaries and investments to create a dedicated SC Ventures holding structure outside of bank’s deposit taking entities and position ourselves for future growth  

5 venture launches:

• Libeara – set to aid creation of first tokenised Singapore Dollar Government Bond Fund for investors 
• audax – first external client win within its first quarter post-operationalisation; won the Singapore regionals of Dubai International Financial Centre’s inaugural FinTech World Cup during Singapore Fintech Festival 
• myZoi – raised US$14 million from SBI Holdings and SC Ventures, and obtained 2 regulatory licenses from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates 
• Tawi – empowering small-holder farmers, women and youth across Africa through technology  
• SWIAT – a joint venture with LBBW, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale and Comyno 

3 investments:

• BetterTradeOff – provides financial advice through an API-based architecture 
• OpenFin – a follow-on investment 
• Digital Asset Joint Venture in United Arab Emirates with SBI Holdings 

2 exits:  

• Metaco – exited to Ripple, another one of our portfolio companies 
• CardsPal – sold to utu, ideation stemmed from the Intrapreneurship program 

Intrapreneurship: 

• 16 challenges launched  
• 413 ideas submitted  
• 3495 Standard Chartered Bank employees engaged 

Fintech Bridge: 

• 4200+ registered members 
• Launched 22 open challenges 
• Engagement: 161 posts, 63 fintech applicants    

Venture Highlights 

• Appro won the FinTech & E-commerce Disruptor award at the GITEX Impact Supernova Challenge 2023 
• audax: Operationalised in August; won its first external client in November; won silver in the Beyond Core Banking Offerings category at the Qorus-Accenture Banking Innovation Awards 2023; won the Singapore Regionals of the Dubai Fintech Summit Fintech World Cup  
• Huma, our ESG rating venture, was incorporated, with Marisa Drew joining the venture board 
• Hummingbird, a sustainability venture enabling high-quality carbon credits, has struck a deal with a strategic partner to be a co-investor 
• myZoi: Raised US$14 million from SBI Holdings and SC Ventures; obtained 2 regulatory licenses from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates 
• Olea: Expanded into Vietnam; partnered with Silver Birch Finance and Vayana Network; launched a new alternative investment product linked to trade finance 
• Shoal achieved B-Corp certification 
• Standard Chartered nexus: Won Best Institution for Digital CX award from The Digital Banker; nominated for the Qorus-Accenture Banking Innovation Awards 2023; onboarded over 200,000 customers on BukaTabungan  
• TASConnect: Expanded into new markets — Vietnam and India; secured marquee clients; partnered with Huma to provide ESG-linked working capital finance solutions; partnered with Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information to serve as the chain master on Pujiang Digital Chain, a city blockchain digital infrastructure system in Shanghai; partnered with NEC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd; became Validated Partner of the Amazon Web Services Partner Network 
• Zodia Custody: Secured US$36 million in Series A funding ; closed its joint venture with SBI to offer crypto asset custody services in Japan; entered into Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg and Singapore; expanded token coverage to 38 from 12; integrated with Bitfinex, ClearLoop, Fireblock, Hedera and Metaco’s network; partnered with BlockFills, Hidden Road, LMAX Group, OpenEden, Parity Technologies; won Digital Custodian of the Year at the Asset Servicing Times Industry Excellence Awards; won Best Global Digital Asset Custody of the Year at the Citywealth Magic Circle Awards; won Highly Acclaimed Best Digital Assets Custodian award from The Digital Banker; named one of UK’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance 
• Zodia Markets: Expanded into UAE; granted In-Principle Approval from the Abu Dhabi Global Markets, fulfilling the prerequisites for Zodia Markets to receive a Financial Services Permission to start regulated activities as an over-the-counter broker-dealer in virtual assets; registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider with the Central Bank of Ireland; CEO Usman Ahmad named Financial News’ 20 most influential in Crypto list; named Crypto Trading Platform of the Year at the European Technology Awards 2023; won Excellence in Digital Asset Innovation by the Digital Banker; added Coinbase Prime to its custodian network; partnered with Triple-A, Wyden  

Platform Highlights 

• Partnered with Yabx, incubated by Comviva, to address a deep-rooted need for responsible consumer finance in Africa 
• Launched FinTech Bridge 3.0 to explore opportunities for collaboration and to solve real business problems 
• Alex Manson named Digital Assets Leader of the Year by The Digital Banker 
• Four of our ventures (Olea, TASConnect, Standard Chartered nexus, Trust Bank) were named as 20 hottest startups by Singapore Business Review