Year-on-year inflation in Laos increased to 30 percent in August, according to the latest numbers from the Lao Statistics Bureau.
Bybit Partners With SignalPlus in an Industry-First Partnership
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Media OutReach – 6 September 2022 – Bybit, one of the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges, has entered partnership with SignalPlus, a leading enterprise technology company offering options trading for digital and crypto assets, to provide a next level trading experience for Bybit users.
As the first of its kind between a cryptocurrency exchange with SignalPlus, this partnership entails the development of a customized options-centric dashboard platform built for professional options traders seeking to access global liquidity and optimize their trades, and an AI-powered options trading robot that can fully automate market making and risk hedging by SignalPlus. Tailor-made for Bybit users, these features aim to enable traders in maximizing their capital efficiency with their unified margin accounts.
Bybit remains the only exchange to offer USDC options trading and settlement, which allows users to trade crypto options conveniently using USDC, without the need to buy or own the underlying crypto asset. Furthermore, Bybit has recently expanded its range of crypto options to include Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) contracts. This partnership will elevate trading on Bybit to the next level, and position both market leaders at the forefront of the industry.
Adding Advanced Trading Features to World Class Liquidity and Reliability
Bybit has proven itself to be the most reliable, stable, and usable cryptocurrency exchange, offering the best liquidity whether in a bull or bear market. Unique among major exchanges, Bybit has experienced a 99.99% up rate throughout with no overload nor downtime.
Liquidity is arguably the be-all and end-all attribute for asset exchanges. Coupled with SignalPlus’ institutional-grade and integrated options platform solutions, Bybit’s significant market depth and best-in-class liquidity can help ensure traders the best quote and best execution even during extreme volatility, allowing them to go further in trades and enjoy maximum profitability.
“Considered as the standard bearer for crypto options, SignalPlus will be an excellent tool for our users to elevate their trading experience,” said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. “We look forward to bringing our products and services to the next level with this partnership with SignalPlus, and our users benefiting from its functionalities.”
“We are very glad to be Bybit’s official partner in crypto options, an area we expect to see exponential usage growth and adoption over the next few years. Bybit is an absolute first-class exchange with an incredible tech infrastructure, which is the perfect companion to leverage SignalPlus’ proprietary tech offerings. Together, we aspire to be the leading platform to serve the industry’s crypto options needs, and we couldn’t be more excited about our immediate journey ahead,” said Chris Yu, co-founder and CEO of SignalPlus.
Hashtag: #Bybit
About Bybit
Bybit is a cryptocurrency exchange established in March 2018 that offers a professional platform where crypto traders can find an ultra-fast matching engine, excellent customer service and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One racing team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, esports teams NAVI, Astralis, Alliance, Virtus.pro, Made in Brazil (MIBR) and Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports, and association football (soccer) teams Borussia Dortmund and Avispa Fukuoka.
For more information please visit: https://www.bybit.com/
For updates, please follow Bybit’s social media platforms on
https://discord.com/invite/bybit
https://www.facebook.com/Bybit
https://www.instagram.com/bybit_official/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bybitexchange/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bybit/
https://t.me/BybitEnglish
https://www.tiktok.com/@bybit_official
https://twitter.com/Bybit_Official
https://www.youtube.com/c/Bybit
About SignalPlus
Formed in 2021, SignalPlus is a technology company looking to develop an open, accessible technology platform to democratize and empower proficient crypto options trading for users of all levels. Founded by an exceptionally seasoned team of traders, technologists, builders, and repeat entrepreneurs, the Team’s vision is to create an enterprise software solution that would translate our domain expertise into practical, programmatic software services that can be easily leveraged by the crypto industry to accelerate its options markets development in a professional manner.
SignalPlus’s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/signalplus_web3
SignalPlus’s Website: https://www.signalplus.com
10 Young People Apprehended For Kratom Trade in Champasack
Police in Champasak province counseled seven teenagers who were detained for being involved in the trade of Kratom.
New Australian Aid-funded Dialysis Machines to Support Patients in Laos

A LAK 1 billion or USD 65,000 donation of four dialysis machines from the Australian Government will provide life-saving medical support to 4,500 people living with kidney disease or diabetes each year.
Guaranteeing long-term smoothness with the tech-innovative Dynamic Computing Engine in OPPO ColorOS 13

Despite exponential increases to the amount of RAM and ROM on smartphones over the past ten years, slow app opening and switching speeds, phone overheating, and high-power consumption are still regular concerns for users. This leads to the question, if today’s smartphone hardware is so powerful, why do we still experience such fundamental issues in user experience?
Powerful hardware only works if used right
Fierce competition in the smartphone industry over the past decade has led to many manufacturers fighting in a race to deliver the most powerful device in terms of raw hardware performance. This has caused many industry analysts and everyday users alike to wonder if smartphone hardware has now become more powerful than it needs to be. A better way of looking at the issue though is whether this power is being put to the right use or not.
When it comes to using powerful hardware in the most effective way, there are two mistakes which are commonly made. The first is to allocate too many computing resources to a process that doesn’t need them, ultimately leading to unnecessary power consumption. For example, two smartphones equipped with the same chipset can have vastly different levels of power consumption, and this is partly a result of the way resource are allocated and scheduled.
The second type of misuse occurs during memory scheduling conflicts. These are what cause the phone to lag or freeze, for example when switching from one application to another, as system resources originally committed to the first app take time to become available for use by the second.
To solve these problems and ensure that the hardware on its latest smart devices is put to the best use, OPPO has developed a system level computing hub — the Dynamic Computing Engine — that can be found in the latest version of its mobile operating system, ColorOS 13.
The Dynamic Computing Engine: OPPO’s system level computing hub for ColorOS
ColorOS’s Dynamic Computing Engine uses a Computing Power Model to schedule hardware resources effectively and accurately. By optimizing through four computing technologies (Parallel Computing, High-Performance Computing, Device-Cloud Collaborative Computing, and Intelligent Computing), the Dynamic Computing Engine helps deliver an all-round smoother and more stable user experience over the long-term on OPPO devices.
The Dynamic Computing Engine is an evolving technology platform that combines hardware and software to deliver maximum performance and efficiency. For the platforms’ first edition on ColorOS 13, the Computing Power Model and the Parallel Computing Engine have been implemented to help solve performance issues related to inefficient resource allocation and memory scheduling conflicts.
- The Computing Power Model: striking a balance between high performance and low power consumption
Existing strategies for scheduling computing resources have often lacked a deep understanding of chip microarchitecture, so they fail to achieve the best balance in energy efficiency.
To solve these problems, the ColorOS’s engineers underwent a three-year process to find the best method of allocating computing power that could achieve the optimal balance between high performance and low power consumption. Following analysis and simulation of millions of such scenarios data, the team ultimately developed a Computing Power Model capable of accurately scheduling CPU, GPU, and DDR computing resources at the instruction level.

With the support of the Computing Power Model, whenever the phone needs to render a game environment or open a camera application, the CPU only needs to perform the role of an “assistant”, rather than dedicating the focus of its resources to this one task. This can avoid excessive resource requests and the need to repeatedly test resource allocation efficiency, reducing power consumption and extending battery life in the process.
A look at data from the OPPO Find X5 Pro shows just how much the Computing Power Model can improve power efficiency. According to data from OPPO Lab, once upgraded to ColorOS 13, a Find X5 Pro can be used to communicate via WhatsApp for 19 hours, play PUBG for 9 hours, view YouTube videos for 22 hours, or take WhatsApp video calls for 8 hours. While these are unlikely scenarios for the everyday person, simulations also show that the average battery life of the Find X5 Pro can reach 34 hours during typically use.
- Parallel Computing: ensuring a smooth experience under heavy loads and multitasking
Just as instruction level resource scheduling strikes a balance between performance and power consumption, parallel computing is a valuable tool in solving memory allocation conflicts.
Android uses a serial memory allocation system that works on a first come, first served basis. However, given the complexity of real-life smartphone applications, this serial nature has significant drawbacks. For example, when the user suddenly needs to perform another high priority task, they may find that the phone’s memory is occupied by other processes and cannot be released in time. This resulting lag or freezing of the app is an all too familiar experience for most smartphone users, and one which might cause some to wonder why such a well-known problem has not yet been solved. One of the primary reasons is that these memory locks are caused by a phenomenon in the computer architecture called “lock contention”. In fact, research undertaken on ColorOS has shown that “lock contention” is responsible for as many as 30% of the lag or freezing issues encountered when using a smartphone.
To get around this, ColorOS adopts an advanced microkernel design that executes key operations such as memory allocation and memory reclaim in parallel so that high priority tasks do not have to wait in line to have access to these resources. By splitting the locked memory into smaller blocks, CPU threads have to wait less time for the current thread to finish working on that specific block of memory, resulting in less lag or pause time. This improvement is critical to the smooth experience that ColorOS users will enjoy during multitasking, enabling them to open multiple apps at the same time and switch between them smoothly.
A smoother experience in ColorOS 13
Thanks to the foundations provided by the Dynamic Computing Engine, ColorOS 13 delivers a whole variety of smoother and smarter experiences.
When it comes to productivity, ColorOS 13 features an upgraded Multi-Screen Connect that now supports seamless connection between smartphones and OPPO Pad Air, and between smartphones and PCs. With the OPPO Share function, the upgraded Multi-Screen Connect also makes file transfer between devices faster and more convenient, providing support for transfer between OPPO smartphones and OPPO tablets, or OPPO smartphones to PC, without using any mobile data. Most major file types are supported, meaning you can seamlessly and quickly transfer documents and switch between smartphone, PC, or OPPO tablet depending on which device works best for any given task.
In terms of interactive experience, ColorOS’s Quantum Animation Engine improves the realism of animated effects by adding extra details and an advanced physical motion model that makes interactions in ColorOS closely reflect the laws of physics. Following in-depth research and analysis of user feedback, the ColorOS team has optimized 61 motion effects and introduced Behavioral Prediction into Quantum Animation Engine. Behavioral Prediction can recognize and predict a user’s intended input when two touchscreen gestures are made one after the other. For example, when an app is opened and the user suddenly decides to open the second page to the right of the home screen, usually the user have to slide up from the bottom of the display and wait for the home screen to appear before swiping onto the second page. But if user swipe right after sliding up, ColorOS 13 will know the ultimate goal is to get to the second page and will take user directly there. This prevents conflict between the two operations and provides users with smoother, more intuitive interaction.
Another feature in ColorOS 13 that minimizes power consumption through close integration of hardware and software is LTPO 2.0 technology. LTPO 2.0 can reduce the refresh rate of the Always-On Display to only 1Hz, leading to a reduction in power consumption of up to 30% in certain applications. This creates more possibilities for users to personalize their Always-On Display without having to worry about how it will impact the battery life of the phone. The Always-On Display in ColorOS 13 provides options to monitor daily smartphone usage with Insight Always-On Display or create a digital Bitmoji avatar that syncs up with their real self. The Smart Always-On Display can even be used to control Spotify music play or receive information on food delivery orders from apps such as Swiggy and Zomato without unlocking the screen.
In terms of privacy and security, ColorOS 13’s Auto Pixelate can automatically blur profile pictures and usernames in chat screenshots using a device-side algorithm, allowing users to conveniently share screenshots of their conversations without worrying about their privacy. ColorOS 13 also includes an updated Private Safe feature that employs industry-standard AES file encryption to store files in a local private directory for enhanced security and privacy.

OPPO will continue to evolve the Dynamic Computing Engine in future iterations of ColorOS to provide even more powerful support for other features and content. This includes the addition of the High-Performance Computing, Device-Cloud Collaborative Computing, and Intelligent Computing engines that will take the smooth and intelligent user experience of ColorOS to the next level.
Hashtag: #OPPO
About OPPO
OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since the launch of its first mobile phone – “Smiley Face” – in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology. Today, OPPO provides a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find X and Reno series. Beyond devices, OPPO also provides its users with ColorOS operating system and internet services such as OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO has footprints in more than 60 countries and regions, with more than 40,000 employees dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world.
About ColorOS
ColorOS is a highly customized, efficient, intelligent, and richly designed Android-based mobile OS from OPPO. With over 500 million global monthly active users, ColorOS supports 67 languages, including English, Hindi, Thai, and Indonesian.
TRON GameFi WIN NFT HERO Mystery Box will be officially launched at Binance NFT Marketplace on September 8
Details:https://www.binance.com/en/nft/staking/winnfthero?ref=202386308

What Is Binance NFT Subscription Mechanism
Binance introduces a new way for users to fairly participate in the latest drops and exclusive releases on Binance NFT. By utilizing this new subscription mechanism, Binance will ensure a fair and equal way for BNB holders or NFT holders to commit tokens towards a Binance NFT sale. There is a subscription cap for each user, and the final NFT allocation will be distributed in a fair and square manner.
How to Participate
1. Log in to your Binance account and go to the Binance NFT homepage. Click on the NFT sale banner you wish to participate in.
2. You will be redirected to the subscription page, where you can see a description of the project, the total NFT issued, the Participation Ticket price, the ticket purchase limit per user, and the subscription countdown.
Attention
1. All Binance users who have completed the Identity Verification can participate in the Binance NFT primary sale to purchase NFTs. However, to be qualified to subscribe for Participation Tickets in the next phase, you need to meet the prerequisite determined by each sale.
2. The preparation phase of WIN NFT HERO Mystery Box sale is from 0:00 on September 5 to 2:00 UTC on September 7. If you top up your wallet balance to meet the minimum daily average BNB holdings after the Preparation Phase begins, you may not be eligible to participate in the Subscription Mechanism sale.
For details of the participation process and rules, please read the official introduction of Binance: https://www.binance.com/en/support/faq/ca84113a81c2471f99d1a7942ccf1795
WIN NFT HERO
WIN NFT HERO is a “GameFi+NFT” strategic game, built on the TRON public chain, which makes all kinds of heroes, equipment and other NFT assets in the game belong to individual players. Our goal is to connect players from all over the world through WIN NFT HERO, to create a world of economic prosperity through blockchain, and to provide players with a new experience and entertainment beyond the real world value.

WIN NFT HERO Highlights:
1. To create the GameFi version of “Teamfight Tactics”, bring more fun to players
Unlike previous GameFi projects that emphasize Earn and ignore gameplay, WIN NFT HERO is dedicated to bringing more fun to players. WIN NFT HERO is similar to the popular strategy game Teamfight Tactic in terms of gameplay.The core gameplay is to match the best hero lineup with reasonable tactical strategies based on hero positioning, bonding and equipment settings.
According to the statistics, the monthly active players of Teamfight Tactics have exceeded 30 million, which is a testimony to the popularity of this game mode. As a metaverse GameFi, WIN NFT HERO not only allows players to experience a similar gaming experience as Teamfight Tactics, but also allows players to own in-game assets and Play to Earn.
2. Lower the participation threshold, allowing Web2 players to easily enter Web3
The reason why GameFi can’t make itself known outside of a fixed circle is that Web3 itself has certain technical complexity and cognitive threshold. In order to reduce the learning cost for Web2 players, WIN NFT HERO provides a new game mode, so that Web2 players can easily enter the game through the familiar traditional way. Web2 players only need to rely on their own strategies and operations to earn rewards in WIN NFT HERO’s free ALLSTAR mode and related season events.
Just like the cross-chain concept in the blockchain field, WIN NFT HERO also bridges between Web2 and Web3 players, allowing Web2 players to enter to Web3 at any time and maximize their earnings while enjoying the game. Through these ways, WIN NFT HERO has paved the way for attracting more new players in the future.
3. TRON and Binance combine powerfully, buying NFT mystery boxes is earning
On November 25, 2021, WIN NFT HORSE, the first GameFi launched by TRON Ecology, was launched on Binance IGO. Based on the value depth and liquidity of Binance Ecology, WIN NFT HORSE had achieved a remarkable result of 10,000 NFT mystery boxes sold out in 1 second. In addition, WIN NFT HORSE’s horse NFT not only generated extremely high premiums in the secondary market due to players’ enthusiastic pursuit, but participating in the game also allowed players to gain a lucrative income.
Previously WIN NFT HERO has released an introduction to the economic model, which contains $NFT, $WIN and other in-game specific assets within the game ecosystem to incentivize players’ behaviors in different game scenarios. $NFT and $WIN already have a rich ecosystem with sufficient value to support. After the game is officially launched, it will also greatly empower $NFT and $WIN, the two star tokens of TRON GameFi field.
WIN NFT HERO, as the second GameFi launched by TRON, will also reach a new level of support in terms of ecological resources. Therefore, WIN NFT HERO launching at Binance NFT Marketplace will certainly get more attention, and is expected to once again form the wealth effect of buying is earning.
4. NFT deflation mechanism, providing long-term fundamental value support
In the general game mode, players can improve the quality of game characters or equipment NFTs by upgrading to achieve better results in the game. On this basis, WIN NFT HERO adds a new game mechanism, that is, players can consume low-quality NFTs to obtain higher-quality NFTs.
This persistent deflation mechanism can not only promote the vitality of the entire WIN NFT HERO economic ecology, but also provide long-term basic value support for NFTs.
5. Build TRON Metaverse community and promote the sustainable prosperity of TRON ecology
The goal of WIN NFT HERO is to build an exciting TRON Metaverse community, where people from all walks of life can gather in the metaverse to share experiences and interests, and play games together. Thus,, we can see that WIN NFT HERO will also become the entrance to the TRON Metaverse. While receiving the full support of the TRON ecology, WIN NFT HERO also shoulders the responsibility of continuously injecting value and vitality into the TRON ecology.
In the process of continuous expansion, WIN NFT HERO will also bring more application scenarios for TRON ecological tokens such as $WIN and $NFT, thereby promoting the increase of token value. As an early participant of WIN NFT HERO, you will have the opportunity to get richer returns by holding hero NFTs or in-game token assets for a long time.
Follow the official channel of WIN NFT HERO to keep up with the latest progress of the game in real time at:
Official website: https://www.winnfthero.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/winnfthero
Discord: https://discord.gg/ekC6AVy5xv
Telegram: https://t.me/WINNFTHERO
Hashtag: #WINNFTHERO
KPMG to launch Singapore’s first Embedded Finance Hub
- First ever Embedded Finance Hub to accelerate adoption of embedded finance in Singapore by providing incubation support to enterprises and financial institutions
- The Hub matches participants across the industry to guide and provide knowledge in the required specific areas of embedded finance
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 6 September 2022 – With financial services globally and in Singapore shifting towards embedded finance[1], KPMG announced today the launch of Singapore’s first Embedded Finance Hub (the Hub) with ambitions to accelerate the adoption of embedded finance in the country. The Hub, set to run for at least 2 years is expected to provide incubation support to over 120 non-financial enterprises and financial institutions looking to make inroads into financial areas such as payments, blockchain, lending, insurance and wealth.
The Hub is established as a centre of standard setting, collaboration and knowledge. As a leading professional services firm, KPMG will manage the Hub. KPMG’s financial services experts will provide best practices and venture acceleration support to companies keen on entering the embedded finance domain. This could involve working with them to co-create digital assets to drive developments for payments, gamification of finance, decentralised finance and platforms. Start-ups can also trial their embedded finance innovations at this Hub, gaining feedback from Hub ecosystem participants on how to get these commercialised. Most importantly the Hub will lay a new foundation for future data-enabled innovations.
Beyond this, the Hub will also see collaborative efforts between non-financial service sector organisations (such as healthcare, agriculture, technology, media, and telecom or retail companies) and financial services businesses as they test new value propositions infused with the latest digital technologies. For instance, participants will gain access to an enablement programme designed to upskill organisations pursuing embedded finance initiatives and a global library of best practices curated by industry leaders. They will also have access to a growing selection of premium API (Application Programming Interface) solutions that can be embedded in external channels and applications. Participants will be able to implement concepts and models to bring about new commercialisation avenues within embedded finance in Singapore and regionally.
The Hub aims to build capabilities and raise the standards of practice across the end-to-end embedded finance ecosystem for corporates and financial institutions. The Hub will work with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) and the broader ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of embedded finance in Singapore.
“The next phase of the fintech disruption is moving beyond open banking to embedded finance. This unleashes new opportunities to create ecosystems for financial services to develop their as-a-service business and work with corporates to partner for new embedded finance initiatives; improving customer experience and creating new source of revenue. These partnerships drive the uptake of financial services across all industries. KPMG’s Embedded Finance Hub will be the epicenter of collaboration and knowledge for Singapore’s embedded finance industry” said Anton Ruddenklau, Partner, Global Head of Innovation, Financial Services, KPMG International.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said “Embedding relevant financial services in the user journey of non-financial services industries can enhance convenience and value to both customers and businesses. This requires partnerships between financial institutions and businesses, underpinned by trust and technology. We look forward to KPMG’s Embedded Finance Hub nurturing and accelerating growth in embedded finance across different industries.”
KPMG will be seeking interested organisations to participate in the inaugural phase of the Hub’s activities. Do email sg-fmemfi@kpmg.com.sg to register or inquire more.
[1] Pulse of Fintech H1’22 (page 6, 15, 17, & 23)
Hashtag: #KPMG
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About KPMG
KPMG in Singapore is part of a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 144 countries and territories with more than 236,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
For more information, visit kpmg.com.sg
.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/kpmg
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singapore
Singapore hits three-year-high for H1 fintech funding at US$2.14 billion but scores smaller total deal value compared to H2’21: KPMG Pulse of Fintech report
- Global fintech market resilient in H1’22 at US$107.8 billion in investment
- Asia-Pacific sees record US$41.8 billion of fintech investment in H1’22 – ahead of the US$39.4 billion seen in the Americas
- Global VC investment drops to US$52.6 billion despite record US$16.6 billion in VC funding in EMEA
- Singapore saw a modest increase in number of fintech deals funded across payments, cryptocurrencies, insurtech, wealthtech, and cybersecurity in H1’22 compared to H2’21. Most funded were Payments and Cryptocurrency deals.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 6 September 2022 – Singapore’s fintech funding has hit a three year high for first-half-year (H1) performance snagging a combined deal value of US$2.14 billion across venture capital (VC), private equity (PE) and mergers & acquisitions (M&A), according to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech H1’22 report. Compared to the same period last year, funding shot up 64 percent from the combined deal value US$1.31 billion achieved in H1’21, signalling continued confidence in the potential of fintech developments in driving growth and innovation for financial services.
On a half-yearly basis, Singapore’s fintech funding saw a 15 percent drop in H1’22 compared to the US$2.51 billion achieved in H2’21 due to greater caution by investors in reaction to market developments. Cryptocurrency funding in Singapore dipped by more than half its value from US$1.3 billion in H2’21 to US$539.1 million in H1’22 – this comes after record crypto investment inflows in 2021. Crypto attracted smaller deal sizes but a larger number of deals with a significant amount of startup funding (two thirds from seed and early-stage VC funding). The crypto space also saw a small amount of consolidation with seven exit or merger deals. Regtech also saw a drop in funding from US$66.63 million in H2’21 to US$23.34 million in H1’22. Investors chose to channel funds into payments – an area that has been demonstrating stable growth and developments, alongside more cross-border initiatives being forged. Hence, cumulative deal value for payments in Singapore close to tripled from US$263 million in H2’21 to US$946.61 million in H1’22.
H2’21 was the high watermark for funding and while H1’22 saw a lower cumulative deal value, funding in Singapore still remains healthy. Furthermore, H1’22 saw a modest increase in the number of fintech deals funded across payments, cryptocurrencies, insurtech, wealthtech and cybersecurity as compared to H2’21 (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Singapore’s fintech deals in H1’22 and H2’21
H1’22 | H2’21 | |||
Fintech Area | No. of deals | Cumulative Deal Value (millions) | No. of deals | Cumulative Deal Value (millions) |
Reg Tech | 4 | US$23.34 | 10 | US$66.63 |
InsurTech | 4 | US$34 | 3 | US$1.20 |
WealthTech | 2 | US$200 | 1 | US$29.60 |
PropTech | 3 | US$4 | 3 | US$8.20 |
Cybersecurity | 2 | US$13.20 | 0 | US$0.00 |
Payments | 13 | US$946.61 | 10 | US$263 |
Cryptocurrency | 59 | US$539.10 | 50 | US$1,300.40 |
Source: KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech H1’22 report
The half-yearly drop in Singapore was mirrored globally with investments in fintech lowered from US$111.2 billion across 3,372 deals in H2’21 to $107.8 billion across 2,980 deals in H1’22. However, the Asia-Pacific region saw total fintech investment more than double in H1’22 – from US$19.2 billion in H2’21 to a record US$41.8 billion in H1’22 – with the US$27.9 billion acquisition of Australia-based Afterpay by Block accounting for more than half of this total. Meanwhile, both the Americas and EMEA regions saw fintech investment dip – from US$59.7 billion to US$39.4 billion and from US$31.6 billion to US$26.6 billion respectively. In all, the Asia-Pacific region attracted US$41.8 billion, while the Americas attracted US$39.4 billion – of which the US accounted for US$34.9 billion, and the EMEA region attracted US$26.6 billion.
“2021 was a banner year for the fintech market globally, which makes the first half of 2022 seem slow by comparison,” said Anton Ruddenklau, Global Head of Financial Services Innovation and Fintech, KPMG International. “But in reality, many sectors within the fintech market have shown strength and resilience. While the fintech market will likely be quite challenged in H2’22 due to global uncertainty and broader economic concerns, fintechs will likely continue to attract significant attention and investment – if at lower levels than last year.”
Venture capital funding falls as investors pull back
Venture capital (VC) funding in Singapore fell 30 percent in H1’22 – companies in Singapore received US$1.38 million in funding in 107 transactions compared to US$1.97 million with 103 transactions in H2’21. In a year-on-year comparison, the first half of 2022 performed better than 2021 with US$1.02 million worth of investments. While the VC market experienced headwinds this year with investors pulling back in anticipation of interest rate hikes and geopolitical tensions, the VC fintech funding still remains resilient especially with robust seed funding.
Global VC investment also declined between H2’21 and H1’22 – from US$66.5 billion to US$52.6 billion. Compared to all periods outside of 2021, the amount was incredibly robust. The Americas accounted for the largest amount of VC funding (US$27.2 billion), while EMEA set a new record high for a six-month period (US$16.6 billion), led by the world’s two largest raises during the period: a US$1.1billion raise by Germany-based Trade Republic and a US$1 billion raise by UK-based Checkout.com.
US$27.9 billion Afterpay acquisition drives fintech investment in Asia-Pacific to new high at mid-year
Fintech investment in the Asia-Pacific region soared to an annual record high of US$41.8 billion with six months left in 2022, driven by Block’s US$27.9 billion acquisition of Australia-based Afterpay. The region saw several other large M&A deals, including the US$1 billion merger of Superhero and Swiftx in Australia, and the US$2.1 billion buyout of Yayoi by KKR in Japan. VC investment was spread throughout the region, including a US$690 million raise by Singapore-based Coda Payments, a US$300 million raise by Indonesia-based Xendit, and US$270 million and US$237 million raises by India-based fintechs Stashfin and Oxyzo. Fintech investment in China remained soft in H1’22, with the largest fintech deal in the country a US$140 million raise by Fenbeitong.
US accounts for US$34.9 billion of the US$39.4 billion of fintech investment in the Americas in H1’22
The US attracted US$34.9 billion of fintech investment, including US$23.5 billion in VC investment, compared to US$39.4 billion in total investment and US$27.2 billion in VC investment seen across the Americas as a whole. The US attracted the Americas region’s largest deals of H1’22, including the US$2.6 billion buyout of Bottomline Technologies by Thomas Bravo, the US$1.2 billion buyout of SimpleNexus by nCino, the US$1.1 billion acquisition of Technisys by SoFi, and the US $748 million VC raise by Ramp. Outside of the US, most jurisdictions saw fintech investment drop; Brazil saw fintech investment fall from US$3.7 billion in H2’21 to US$1.4 billion in H1’22, while Canada saw investment plunge from US$1.9 billion to US$810 million during the same period.
EMEA region sees major decline in M&A, but record VC funding
Fintech investment in the EMEA region dropped from US$31.6 billion in H2’22 to US$26.6 billion in H1’22, driven largely by a 50 percent decline in M&A deal value (from US $15.7 billion in H2’21 to US $7.2 billion in H1’22). The region saw only two US$1 billion+ M&A deals during H1’22: the US$3.9 billion merger of Italy-based Nexi and SIA and the US$1.8 billion acquisition of UK-based Interactive Investor by Abrdn. While M&A declined significantly, VC investment in the region grew to US$16.6 billion in H1’22 – slightly eclipsing the previous record high of US$16.5 billion set in H1’21. EMEA also saw a record of US$2.7 billion in PE funding in H1’22, including a quarterly record of US$2.1 billion in Q1.
Payments space remains dominant among fintech subsectors
Investment in the payments space was incredibly strong in H1’22, accounting for US$43.6 billion compared to the US$60.3 billion seen during all of 2021. In addition to the mega acquisition of Afterpay by Block (formerly Square) for US$27.9 billion, the payments space also saw the US$2.6 billion buyout of Bottomline Technologies by PE firm Thomas Bravo, and a US$1 billion VC raise by UK-based Checkout.com.
Cybersecurity still a key focus for fintech investors
Interest in cybersecurity remained very strong at mid-year, with US$1.2 billion in investment globally, including four big raises in the US: a US$550 million raise by Fireblocks, a US$170 million raise by Chainalysis, and US$100 million raises by TokenEx and Cowbell Cyber. In March, Google also announced plans to acquire incidence response company Mandiant for US$5.2 billion. If completed, the deal would singlehandedly break 2021’s record US$5.2 billion in global cybersecurity investment.
Uncertain future ahead
H1’22 saw numerous challenges affect the broader investment market, including geopolitical uncertainty, turbulence in the public markets, and rising inflation and interest rates. With no end in sight to many of these challenges, the fintech market could see activity slowing considerably – particularly compared to the major record highs seen in 2021. While fintech investment is expected to remain somewhat resilient – particularly in areas like B2B payments, cybersecurity automation, and data-driven analytics – deals could take longer to complete as investors become more critical of opportunities.
“With valuations coming under pressure, fintech investors are going to enhance their focus on cash flow, revenue growth, and profitability – which could make it more difficult for some fintechs to raise funds,” said Anton. “M&A activity, however, could see an uptick as struggling fintechs look to sell rather than holding a downround, corporate and PE investors move to take advantage of better pricing, and well-capitalized fintechs look to take out the competition.”
H1’22—Key Global and Regional Highlights
- Global investment in fintech dropped from US$111.2 billion across 3,372 deals in H2’21 to US$107.8 billion across 2,980 deals in H1’22. The Asia-Pacific region attracted US$41.8 billion, while the Americas attracted US$39.4 billion – of which the US accounted for US$34.9 billion, and the EMEA region attracted US$26.6 billion.
- Global VC investment declined from US$66.5 billion in H2’21 to US$52.6 billion in H1’22. The Americas attracted US$27.2 billion in investment, while EMEA attracted a record US$16.6 billion, and the Asia-Pacific region saw US$8.7 billion.
- Global M&A activity was strong in H1’22, with US$49.1 billion in deal value, including US$31.8 billion in the Asia-Pacific, US$10.1 billion in the Americas, and US$7.2 billion in the EMEA region.
- Global PE investment remained steady, with US$6.1 billion in investment in H1’22, including US$2.7 billion in EMEA, US$2 billion in the Americas, and US$1.3 billion in the Asia-Pacific.
- Corporate-participating investment accounted for US$25.9 billion in investment during H1’22, including US$13.1 billion in the Americas, US$8 billion in EMEA, and US$4.7 billion in the Asia-Pacific.
- Payments accounted for US$43.6 billion of investment in H1’22, while crypto and blockchain attracted US$14.2 billion, regtech attracted US$5.6 billion, and insurtech saw US$3.8 billion.
- Global investment in the insurtech sector dropped to US$3.8 billion in H1’22 – far off pace to match the US$14.8 billion in investment seen during 2021.
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