StartupX
Asia has risen quickly to become a frontrunner in the innovation race for fintech globally. From advancing the use of digital payments, to making finance and lending accessible for the unbanked millions in Asia, there is a huge appetite for up and coming fintech innovation, with investors paving the way for fintech to grow, putting in almost $13 billion in venture capital funding in the APAC region in 2019 alone.
Countries are in a race to establish themselves as the true leaders of a digital world, and fintech is one competitive, albeit highly regulated, space that governments are seeking to boost. Our partner, a government entity in Asia, seeks to showcase its support for fintech companies and at the same time, identify the next wave of fintech startups and attract promising these companies to its shores.
We worked with our partners to launch a roadshow in our city, focusing on creating valuable and meaningful discussions around the fintech space in Asia, and scouting high potential fintech companies to participate in the roadshow.
In the lead up to the roadshow, we identified suitable roundtable participants within our network, reaching out to speakers and leaders in the fintech space across both countries, and crafted topics around the roundtable discussions with our partners. Through local research on the ground, we identified two key conversations; the growth of fintech in the APAC region, as well as the rise of virtual banks and its role as a disruptor to the financial incumbents.
The roadshow was also opened up to the wider fintech community, to encourage participation in the dialogue and increase engagement between our partners and the local fintech community.
Close to 200 members of the local fintech community signed up to attend the roadshow, and the event raised the profiles of local fintech companies who participated in the roundtables. We brought together a total of 11 industry thought leaders for the roadshow, from fintech CEOs, to directors from government agencies and regulators. Through the event, we were able to scout for high potential fintech companies and bring them into the roadshow, and to facilitate conversations between regulators and fintech players with an interest to expand to our partner’s host country.