Senior executives from the largest fintechs in Southeast Asia have banded together to launch Fintech Angel Operators, a network of up to 100 angel investors bringing their on-the-ground expertise to early-stage startups.
The founding team, from Saison Capital and Finantier, came together with the common goal of nurturing the startup ecosystem.
Saison Capital brings with it a venture point of view while Finantier lends its perspective to building Southeast Asia’s financial infrastructure for young startups and large financial enterprises.
The Fintech Angel Operators network includes individuals who hold senior appointments at top-tier fintechs including Grab Financial, PayPal, Stripe, Revolut and Remitly.
Members of the Fintech Angel Operators network are investors with fintech operational expertise in Southeast Asia who are looking to invest angel-sized cheques into startups.
The group operates with a cohort-based syndicate structure and will include up to 100 fintech founders, executives and operators in its first batch.
Capital from the network will be deployed collectively by investors interested in the deal via a standard angel investment structure. This could include an special purpose vehicle (SPV) entity or AngelList.
For startups operating in specific fintech verticals like lending, remittance or payments, the network will bring access to capital from a curated group of operators in the region.
Investors in the Fintech Angel Operators network are selected via an internal skills matrix to ensure that each specific skill set required to run a fintech, such as hiring, building a technical stack or fundraising, is captured by the expertise of an operator in the Angel network.
The network is evaluating a number of deals and intends to close its first investments by Q3’2021.
Keng Low
“Whether you’re facing issues with developing your business model, how to approach and work with regulators or facing specific hurdles like regulation – you’ll want someone in your corner who can give strategic advice and solutions from real experience on what works in Southeast Asia,”
said Keng Low, Co-Founder of Finantier and Co-Founder of Fintech Angel Operators.
Keng co-founded Finantier, which is building an open finance platform for SEA. Finantier recently graduated from Y Combinator and is backed by investors such as Addition, GFC and Partech.
Sagar Gupta
“The venture capital ecosystem in Southeast Asia has developed at a rapid pace over the last few years. Yet, it’s rare to have a collection of angels that focus on operational value-add within a particular industry vertical.
I’m super excited to see the impact of the Fintech Angel Operators in the region to build a globally impactful ecosystem,”
said Sagar Gupta, Stripe Startup Ecosystem Lead.
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Source: https://fintechnews.sg/52123/funding/new-fintech-angel-investor-network-launched-with-execs-from-grab-paypal-and-stripe/
