OurCrowd, an equity crowdfunding, announced that it has opened an office in Singapore, its seventh worldwide, to serve the growing community of Asian investors interested in funding early stage high-growth companies. It has appointed Denes Ban, a successful entrepreneur and technology executive, as Managing Partner Asia and head of OurCrowd’s Singapore Management company.
The move follows OurCrowd’s announcement earlier this year that it has partnered with United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Sassoon Investment Corporation (SassCorp) to pursue equity crowdfunding for startups and SMEs in the region. OurCrowd also received a formal license to begin operating in Singapore from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in August 2016.
“Asia is one of our fastest growing markets and following our launch in Singapore, we will be looking to take OurCrowd further into the ASEAN market,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved. “Our business in Asia has grown five times since 2014, both in terms of the number of investors on the platform and investment dollars committed on our platform.”
Medved added that OurCrowd’s Asian funding now represents over half of the funding recently invested on the site.
He added: “Asia more broadly, and Singapore in particular, is becoming a globally-recognized financial hub for the next generation of innovative technology companies. We expect to tap into exciting new deal flow, as well as bring more and more Asian investors to join us in funding global technology companies.”
In just over three years, OurCrowd has established itself as a major international force in the equity crowdfunding industry, investing over US$320 million from its “crowd” of 16,000 accredited investors in its portfolio of 100 companies and five funds, which span major investment sectors including Mobility and Transportation, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Digital Health, Agtech, Big Data, and Robotics.
Denes Ban said: “We are excited to be operating in Singapore, which is fast becoming a leading global fintech center. We look forward to strengthening our winning team of UOB and the Sassoon family by adding new Singapore partners, investors, and portfolio companies. At this month’s MAS’ Singapore Fintech Festival, OurCrowd portfolio company BioCatch won the Global Fintech Award from among 200 competing companies and received a S$150,000 cash prize.
OurCrowd also partnered with UOB and KPMG to organize a pitch fever session at the Festival for entrepreneurs, corporate partners and investors.
Medved and Ban will outline future plans for their activities in the region at a cocktail event today in Singapore for over 100 investors, hosted by Mr. Victor and Mrs. Michelle Sassoon.