Foundation Life.SREDA enters the market of Southeast Asia

According to DealStreetAsia, Life.SREDA foundation headquarters will be transported to Singapore. Some portfolio companies of the fund will also move there. Life.SREDA will explore the prospects for working with start-ups in the southeast Asia market.

In addition, Singapore plans to restart the Life.SREDA II fund. It is planned to raise $ 100 million in order to further expand its influence on the Fintech market of the region. Back in October, information appeared that a second fund was opened, which was negotiating with potential investors from China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The LifePay portfolio company also entered the Asian market and acquired the iboxPro payment service, which is launched in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. According to rumors, the amount of the transaction amounted to $ 10 million. It is planned that LifePay will work in Southeast Asia and in Russia.
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Below are the statements of the Life.SREDA fund manager Vladislav Solodky about the reasons for the move, which he told the editorial board of Zuckerberg will call.

1. In order to develop fintech, it is necessary for the country to have finance (there are four financial centers in the world - New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, Moscow is not a financial center) and tech.

2. According to statistics, it is necessary for SMEs to develop in the country (its representatives actively use innovations, both individuals and legal entities). In Russia, its share in GDP was already small, and now it is declining. In Asia, it is the backbone of the economy.

3. We considered many options. There is a big market and great potential in the USA - but there are a lot of players. There are many difficult and not the biggest markets in Europe and there are also quite a lot of players. Africa is very desirable, but far and not very clear. Asia - there is not a single global western player in the market, and there are few local ones, plus, in terms of capacity, this is the largest and fastest growing market

4. In general, attitudes towards innovation.

• From the state. For a year now the British Treasury Department has invited us to London, but in the end we did not dare - fintech was singled out in separate priorities of national importance in both Hong Kong and Singapore.

• From the media (excluding the CPU).

• From the public. Everyone wants to be entrepreneurs there, in Russia it’s not honorable to be an entrepreneur, they all want to be government officials, or work in Gazprom and Rosneft.

5. Quality of life. Singapore and Hong Kong traditionally occupy the best places in the respective ratings - in terms of ecology, education, security, and so on - Moscow does not.

6. In the end, first decided in Singapore. (since they ultimately offered the government support and investment in us from the state, plus, it’s best to explore the markets of Southeast Asia from Singapore), but then we will still make a hub in Hong Kong (from there it’s best to go to China), just a little later.