Deloitte, S&P Global Market Intelligence and Monetary Authority of Singapore complete prototype platform to support FinTech investments

Investors and financial institutions do not have sufficient access to reliable and up-to-date company information of FinTech startups, Deloitte analysis has established. This means that they are compelled to rely mostly on informal networks to source investment and partnership opportunities. This limits their view of companies in which they could deploy capital, and slows down potential collaborations.

Aiming to address this gap and help investors and financial institutions connect with FinTech startups that they can partner with or invest in, Deloitte, S&P Global Market Intelligence (a division of S&P Global) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), collaborated to develop a prototype for an industry-wide FinTech Research Platform.

The digital FinTech Research Platform has been designed to increase transparency by providing a comprehensive view of FinTech companies, including their attributes on business models, use cases, funding, and technology stack. The platform will also enable accelerated decision-making for investors and financial institutions by allowing them to compare FinTech companies on one platform and thereby easily prioritise the FinTech firms that they can potentially work with based on parameters that matter most to them. The platform could also play a key role in enhancing investors’ confidence in FinTech companies through the transparency of aggregated third-party and self-reported data, clearly showing the source of each data point.

Commenting on the collaboration, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “We believe that the deployment of capital in startups, particularly those offering business-to-business solutions, can be vastly improved by enhancing transparency and increasing the confidence in data on early-stage companies. We are keen to leverage this platform, and create synergy with the API Exchange that was developed by MAS in collaboration with the World Bank’s International Finance Cooperation and the ASEAN Bankers Association.”

Talking about the potential and relevance of the platform, especially in a region that is increasingly becoming a hotbed for the FinTech sector, Bob Contri, Deloitte Global Financial Services Industry Leader, said, “The ASEAN region presents ample opportunity for FinTechs to make an impact with their innovative financial solutions. This platform can help make the investment process more effective so that the countries and their societies can benefit from the progress made.”

Thomas Yagel, Managing Director, Corporates and Governments Segments at S&P Global Market Intelligence added, “Technology and data are fundamental to the financial industry and capital markets. We are very excited to be working with MAS and Deloitte to design a solution that meets a growing market need, and help FinTech companies to unlock opportunities in the ASEAN region.”

MAS, Deloitte, and S&P Global Market Intelligence will continue to explore opportunities to develop the platform further.

The collaboration was announced at the second day of SFF x SWITCH, a one-of-a-kind collaboration between Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH). The ongoing, week-long event, SFF x SWITCH is a comprehensive showcase of innovative technologies across five key sectors - FinTech, advanced manufacturing & engineering, urban solutions & sustainability, health & biomedical sciences and services & digital economy. The first day of the event saw the launch of a US$2 billion green investments programme to promote environmentally sustainable projects and mitigate climate change risks. The announcement was one of the many big-ticket announcements at the inaugural edition of SFF x SWITCH. Running from November 11-15, SFF x SWITCH will feature more than 400 speakers, over 900 exhibitors, 41 international pavilions, and about 60,000 participants from 130 countries.

The FinTech Research Platform is part of a broader MAS effort to re-imagine financing of early stage companies. Also in support of this objective, MAS worked with Enterprise Singapore to host 21 “Deal Fridays” between June and November 2019 - carefully curated deal-making sessions to facilitate regional investments into startups. Deal Fridays provided over 200 startups with access to more than 150 investors including Venture Capitalists (VCs), Corporate VCs, family offices and angel investors from the region, generating over 200 leads. Deal Fridays will resume in Q1 2020.

YourStory is the supporting media partner of SFF X SWITCH.