Mumbai, India – India-based Upturn News Network, has announced the launch of moneynomical.com, a financial news portal for news readers across the world. The platform aims to provide news from a range of verticals, including crypto, stock markets, banking, technology, funding and money management.

Vipul Sipani, founder of the Indian news group Upturn News Network, said the internet landscape is constantly changing and evolving, with the news segment being one of the strongest drivers of the world wide web.

“In such a dynamic time and age, it is imperative for news portals to provide data which is not only timely, relevant but also helps the reader grow in knowledge, as well as in matters of life. As times and technology change at a fast pace, our portals, editors, journalists and photo-editors intend to keep ahead of the curve,” he said.

Sipani further said, the news network will soon be releasing a mobile app which will cater to the subscribers of the portal. Users will be able to access the Moneynomical website without any charges, though select sections will be premium, available only via monthly subscription. The portal will also publish comprehensive research-based content for their subscribers.

Mumbai, India – Kiya.ai, an innovative digital solutions providers serving financial institutions and governments globally has announced the launch of India’s first-ever Banking Metaverse – Kiyaverse. The platform will enable customers to use their personalized avatars on digital banking units, mobiles, laptops, VR headsets and mixed reality environments. 

Kiya.ai said that Kiyaverse will bring banking services from the real world to the virtual world and vice-a versa, interacting with a relationship manager’s avatar creation and customisation, AI-based digital customer interaction, portfolio analysis, wealth management, co-lending, and corporate banking. Kiyaverse provides 3-dimensional analysis of data for Banks including CMO Insights, Product Performance, Risk Analysis and Channel Analytics.

Kiyaverse pioneers use cases of merging real-world banking with Metaverse banking through an avatar (virtual humanoid) based interactions. In the first phase, Kiyaverse will allow banks to extend their own Metaverse for clients, partners, and employees, through services that will include Relationship Manager & Peer Avatars and Robo-advisors. Kiyaverse plans to have tokens as NFTs and support CBDC to enable open finance in a Web3.0 environment. Kiyaverse will interface its Open API connectors with Aggregators, and Gateways to enable a Super-App and Marketplace on the metaverse. With the introduction of Haptics enabled Headsets, Kiyaverse will provide a near real-world interaction using the internet of senses.

Kiya.ai’s MD and CEO Rajesh Mirjankar, said that while digital banking is functionally interdependent and inclusive, it is all too often seen as being emotionally detached. Metaverse allows banks to use cutting-edge technology with a human touch which will significantly deepen and personalize customer interaction.

“Kiyaverse offers meaningful applications in the Metaverse that apply to relevant business use cases in the real world. It will enable banks to harness the potential of enhanced UX to bring out the best outcomes for data visualization and gamification of processes and procedures,” Mirjankar said..

Mirjankar added, “Kiyaverse provides cross-functional multi-experience using personalized avatars across real world, mixed reality & virtual reality environments. Our product roadmap includes integration with CBDC and interoperability with other Metaverses to enable open finance in the Metaverse.”

Jakarta, Indonesia — Astro, a platform that enables 15-minute grocery delivery to customers, has raised US$60m in a Series B to continue its mission to make people’s life easier by developing a modern, on-demand platform. The new round was led by Accel, Citius and Tiger Global bringing the total investment to more than US$90m since Astro started in Sep 2021. Existing investors also participated namely AC Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, and Lightspeed, among others.

The funds raised will be used to reach more customers and enrich product capabilities to provide an even better customer experience, as well as to expand the team size in 2022.

Today, Astro’s 15-minutes delivery service is operating in nearly 50 locations across Jakarta Broader Metro Area. Since the last round of Series A, the company revenue has grown more than 10 times as well as achieving much higher efficiency to deliver to customers. The team has also grown significantly with more than 200 people, whom they refer to internally as ‘Astronauts’ while enabling work from anywhere setup to accommodate flexibility during this pandemic environment.

Factors like positive consumer reception and organic growth of cohorts result in a high-growth momentum for the company.

Vincent Tjandra, co-founder and CEO of Astro, said, “Our mission at Astro is to make people’s lives simpler and easier. Our Astronauts have continuously served customers when they need us the most, especially during the last Omicron COVID-19 spike where Indonesia experienced an unprecedented number of cases.”

Tjandra adds, “We are excited to partner with Accel, Citius and Tiger Global to accelerate our meaningful mission. We will continuously focus on building a great company with great talents across Indonesia and delivering a great customer experience.”

For Astro, this is just the beginning as groceries in Indonesia is one of the biggest retail sectors, however digital penetration in the sector is one of the lowest at 0.4% compared to the 10% penetration of e-commerce. With the pandemic driving digital adoption, the opportunity is large with e-grocery in Indonesia and is poised to become a US$6b opportunity by 2025. This represents a billion dollar opportunity being unlocked every single year.

Singapore — Twilio, the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalised experiences for brands, has announced that Nicholas Kontopoulos has joined the company as vice president of marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ).

Kontopoulos was most recently at Adobe, where he led marketing go-to-customer efforts for the Asia Pacific region as regional head of growth marketing of Adobe DX. A veteran technology evangelist with decades of experience, Kontopoulos has also held senior roles at Magneto, SAP and Capita, overseeing various business functions across different markets.

Based in Singapore, Kontopoulos will oversee the marketing strategy to support business growth in the APJ region and cement Twilio’s position as a leader in cloud communications. He will report to Tricia Miller, VP of international marketing for Twilio, and work closely with Lee Hawksley, SVP and GM for Twilio APJ, to meet Twilio’s pipeline generation and business revenue goals for the region.

On the new vice president, Hawksley shared, “Kontopoulos is an exceptionally creative marketer with a proven track record. He brings with him not only valuable cross-industry knowledge but an unmatched passion for customer experience. I am excited about what he brings to the table and know he will be an invaluable addition to our team in the region.”

Meanwhile, Kontopoulos said that he is thrilled to join Twilio’s high performing marketing team to drive the future of customer engagement together during this period of rapid growth.

Kontopoulos adds, “I have always been a firm believer of customer experience as a core business ideology, and I look forward to empowering more businesses in the region with innovative ways to connect and interact with their customers.’’

Sydney, Australia – Agnes Media, an independent media agency, has been appointed by ZeeFi, Australia’s only ‘buy now pay later’ finance solution designed specifically for the education sector, to assist them with acquisition marketing due to their proven experience scaling fintech brands, leveraging their strong focus on analytics and marketing measurement.

The appointment by ZeeFi follows rapid growth for Agnes Media which launched in 2020. The agency has a three tiered measurement-first approach which focuses on commercial growth, ongoing tests and optimisations and dashboard reporting for all clients. It also works with clients including Paytime, a HR fintech brand and payo, the world’s first eat now pay later brand.

Veni Jee, marketing manager at ZeeFi, shared, “The education sector needs additional funding options to help students access courses that are not eligible for government funding. Being the finance experts in the industry, we play a pivotal role in tearing down the financial barrier that impedes the growth of both education providers and their students.”

ZeeFi, which was recently rebranded from Study Loans, is a fintech partner for the education sector. They help education providers grow enrolments and increase cashflow through a suite of innovative finance solutions and payment plan administrative services.

For students they remove the financial barriers to quality education when government funding or upfront course fees are not available, by providing interest-free payment plans or flexible study loans.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Ward, founder and director of Agnes Media, commented, “We are delighted to be appointed by ZeeFi, to assist them in driving growth. We work with a range of fintech brands and understand the nuances these businesses face as they enter the market with a disruptive model that challenges convention. We love working with innovative companies such as ZeeFi that provide beneficial solutions to the end user through the effective application of technology.”

Agnes Media’s approach is centred around measurement for effective growth, with the belief that media investment should drive measurable results.

Hong Kong – krip, a local fintech startup and Hong Kong Cyberport incubatee, has launched a personalized, comprehensive and centralized credit card deals and offers platform that empowers Hong Kong consumers to spend smarter and to get the most out of their cards.

krip’s intuitive user interface makes deals and offers more visible and easily searchable, allowing people to discover over 6,000 deals from 3,000 merchants covering over 480 credit and debit cards. Consumers on the go using the krip HK mobile app can discover all the great deals nearby in real-time across seven major categories, including dining, fashion & accessories, beauty & wellness, entertainment & lifestyle, home living, travel and healthcare.

The krip HK app is free for consumers. Anyone can download the iOS or Android app to start discovering credit card deals and offers by exploring merchant categories, searching for specific stores or restaurant names, or browsing nearby shops in the district. For a more personalized experience, consumers can register an account and select their card(s) by tapping on the cards’ images to set up their personal profiles. This will allow consumers to discover the relevant deals and offers applicable to their own cards, leading to an easier, faster and more personalized experience.

David B. Wang, Founder of krip, shared, “Through a personal experience, I discovered that many deals and offers are left to chance, and most cardholders don’t even know they are missing out. This meant that there was a huge gap in Hong Kong’s credit card market, creating a whole layer of deals and offers available to cardholders that have remained difficult to discover. 

Wang added, “It was clear that consumers would benefit significantly from an intuitive and centralized platform where they could easily discover the deals and offers available to them and spend smarter to maximize the benefits they are entitled to. We are extremely excited to introduce krip to Hong Kong consumers so that they can truly discover the world of credit card deals and offers to its fullest and no longer have to leave money on the table when paying with credit cards.”

With its mission to empower consumers to spend smarter with innovative technology and information transparency, krip aims to revolutionize deals marketing by facilitating information exchange across all three parties; consumers, merchants and financial institutions through open API. By leveraging open API, krip has built a comprehensive deals data ecosystem that harnesses artificial intelligence to uncover and analyze consumer spending patterns, preferences and trends through the platform.

From shopping malls and retail outlets, to restaurant reservation platforms and e-commerce portals, businesses can take advantage of open API to access krip’s comprehensive deals database, and drive their business with thousands of attractive and personalized deals. Merchants can better understand their customers to further personalize deals and offers, while financial institutions can develop more effective targeted marketing strategies to increase card usage and loyalty.

Alice So, head of entrepreneurship at Hong Kong Cyberport, said that FinTech has been integrated into our everyday life, bringing instant benefits for the general public.

“As a major start-up incubator and the largest FinTech community in Hong Kong, Cyberport is delighted to see our incubatee krip successfully launch this innovative and personalised platform,” So said.

So added, “The platform can help consumers spend smarter and, at the same time, can boost the economy by further stimulating their desire to consume, especially as the pandemic situation is stabilizing, and the retail and food & beverage sectors are gradually recovering. Congratulations to the team at krip on a successful launch.”

Hong Kong — Syfe, a digital investment platform headquartered in Singapore, has announced its launch in Hong Kong. This marks the company’s first market expansion since its founding in 2019. Syfe has gained tremendous success in Singapore and is a trusted brand in Singapore’s growing wealth tech industry.

Dhruv Arora, founder and CEO of Syfe, said, “Syfe combines proven to invest strategies, technology and continuous innovation to deliver financial solutions at a fraction of the cost when compared to traditional institutions.”

Arora added, “We are very excited to bring our successful offering with a strong track record in Singapore to Hong Kong as our first market for expansion. Syfe looks forward to partnering Hong Kongers in shaping better outcomes in life through better investing.”

Meanwhile, Yenson She, head of business development of Syfe, commented, “Culturally, people in Hong Kong have a high tendency to save. With a focus on long-term wealth building, Syfe is now bringing high-quality financial services made affordable and accessible for investors, helping Hong Kongers reach their important financial goals.”

Licensed in Hong Kong under Types 1 in Dealing in Securities, 4 in Advising on Securities, and 9 in Asset Management, and regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Syfe provides investors access to institutional-level investment strategies and advisory services previously only available for the top level of high-net-worth individuals.

The company also offers direct indexing global portfolios for retail investors, exclusively for Hong Kong. The portfolios are classified as Core portfolios, built for one’s essential financial goals, and Themes portfolios, which act as satellite portfolios to complement the Core.

The fast-growing fintech saw a significant four-fold increase in its assets in the first half of 2021. Syfe’s platform and its features are protected with bank-grade security, coupled with two-factor authentication through phone or email for all users. Monies and assets in investors’ portfolios are held in a custodian account through an SFC licensed broker, and any uninvested cash is held in a client account at HSBC Hong Kong, regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Commenting on this, Yenson said, “Starting today, Hong Kongers can participate in investing opportunities available in global markets and leverage Syfe’s curated portfolios to grow their wealth. Having a simple, smart yet powerful digital wealth platform enabling investing at your fingertips will be a true game changer for Hong Kongers.”

Utah, USA Experience management (XM) company Qualtrics has announced a partnership with SAP Sevice Cloud, a business technology platform, to bring Qualtrics XM Discover’s AI and machine learning capabilities into SAP Service Cloud® and help customer service teams resolve customer issues, increase resolution rate and improve customer satisfaction.

The integration enables XM Discover to analyse all the structured and unstructured data coming into SAP Service Cloud, such as agent notes, support conversations, chats, and more. By leveraging this integration, agents can understand the intent and emotions behind customer interactions.

Ritu Bhargava, President & chief product officer of SAP Customer Experience, said, “Experience Management is foundational for any intelligent and sustainable enterprise, helping them achieve higher levels of customer loyalty.”

“Organizations leveraging the power of SAP Service Cloud and Qualtrics XM Discover can unlock deeper customer understanding, take real-time action to streamline their business processes, ultimately improving the customer experience and increasing life-time value.”

By combining operational data from SAP with experience data from Qualtrics in a single platform, organizations will have a 360-degree view of their customers’ purchases, interactions, experiences, and feedback over time. This information allows organizations to more efficiently predict retention risks or upsell opportunities, and take action to address issues with individual customers or groups of customers.

XM Discover also summarises and categorises every customer interaction, speeding up after call work (ACW) and allowing agents to focus on higher priority tasks.

Teams can also act in real-time to orchestrate workflows and alerts by creating new cases within Service Cloud or through an existing integration between SAP Service Cloud and Qualtrics xFlow, a low code/no-code workflow engine.

Meanwhile, Fabrice Martin, chief product officer of Qualtrics XM Discover, said that as organizations navigate uncertainty, listening and acting with empathy is more important than ever.

“By bringing XM Discover capabilities to SAP Service Cloud, organizations can uncover unmet expectations and build the products, services, and experiences people want–with speed and scale,” Martin said.

The integration will be generally available in the second half of 2022 to SAP Service Cloud and Qualtrics XM Discover customers.

Taipei, Taiwan OwlTing Group, a global blockchain services company, has announced a partnership with Nium, the global platform for modern money movement, to power OwlPay, OwlTing’s new real-time cross-border payments service for e-commerce and travel platforms in Southeast Asia. The new service covers automatic reconciliation, online currency swaps, and cross-border payment services, to streamline traditional payment processes and significantly enhance operational efficiency for enterprises. 

Una Peng, senior manager of OwlPay, said that they are optimistic about the benefits OwlPay brings to global enterprises, cross-border e-commerce platforms, as well as online travel agencies (OTAs) offering various products and services. 

“OwlPay’s partnership with Nium provides a new B2B payment experience. OwlPay not only allows enterprises to integrate cash flow and information flow, but helps them achieve operational excellence without the need to build an internal payment infrastructure that costs extra time and effort, Peng said.

Using developer-friendly APIs, OwlPay connects to business’ internal management systems and provides a one-stop service for the administration of orders and providers, financial reconciliation, online audit, and payment process automation. In addition, Nium’s competitive exchange rate, extensive settlement network, and support of more than 100 currencies with online currency exchange adds a unique advantage for businesses to complete real-time international remittance on the web interface.

Peng added, “ It is estimated that OwlPay can save up to 50% labor cost for the financial team. Currently, the average cross-border remittance fee falls between 25 to 30 USD per transaction, while OwlPay charges lower than 10 USD with same-day settlement. Payees can receive full payments even for a small amount, which makes OwlPay a faster and cheaper payment solution tailored to the needs of global enterprises.”

In addition, OwlPay supports six currencies for deposit, and the funds can be directly exchanged to local currency for payouts. By depositing funds to designated accounts in Singapore or Hong Kong in advance, enterprises can leverage OwlPay’s worldwide network and payout to global vendors in just a few clicks. Singapore- and Hong Kong-based enterprises can even enjoy further cost reduction through domestic deposits and experience OwlPay’s powerful services instantly.

Darren Wang, Founder and CEO of OwlTing Group, commented, “As a leading blockchain company, we’re actively looking for global partners to make B2B payments faster and cheaper. We are very pleased to cooperate with Nium to grow from domestic financial services to multi-currency, cross-border payments services. OwlPay’s services will expand from Asia to North and South America, and Europe. 

“With OwlPay, we aim to help global enterprises enhance operational and capital arrangement efficiency with a new type of payment and send real-time remittances to other countries with ease. We plan to introduce stablecoins and various settlement networks to explore the infinite possibilities of financial innovation and digital payment development,” Wang adds.

New York, USA – Global audio streaming platform Spotify has announced the launch of its ‘virtual universe’ on the popular online game Roblox called ‘Spotify Island’. The new virtual experience allows fans and artists to engage with one another through the game itself, as well as explore a wonderland of sounds, quests, and exclusive merch.

According to Spotify, through this interactive world, they are creating a place where fans can link up and create new sounds together, hang out in digital spaces, and gain access to exclusive virtual merch.

In addition, Roblox users can mingle with artists, complete interactive quests, and unlock exclusive content. Players can also enjoy an immersive audio experience by creating music and exploring sounds at the virtual beat-maker stations powered by Soundtrap, an online cross-platform digital audio workstation.

“Through Spotify Island, we’re creating an easy opportunity for artists to connect with fans and to partner with Spotify on the creation of in-game virtual merchandise. Spotify’s portion of those sales will go directly back to the artists themselves. We’ll work with artists to create more opportunities like this in the months ahead,” the company said in a statement.

From the main Spotify Island, gamers will be able to portal out to the themed islands that will come to life throughout the year. These destinations will be filled with exclusive content, artist interactions, and themed mini-quests that are designed for both superfans and curious explorers.And this launch just scratches the surface when it comes to ways users can experience Spotify Island on Roblox. 

The first themed experience fans can expect on Spotify Island is K-Park, an homage to all things K-Pop. Coming later this year, K-Park will give fans the chance to interact with artist superstars Stray Kids and SUNMI.