Siam
Commercial Bank (SCB), through its financial technology (fintech)
subsidiary Digital
Ventures, today announced a significant development in its investment
in Nyca Fund II, one of the US’ top fintech-focused funds with
distinguished reputation for its capability to bring together the
expertise of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. This marks
a new milestone in SCB’s efforts to grow its global network of fintech
investments.
Under
the partnership agreement, SCB will be one of Nyca’s only 10
institutional limited
partners. As a Limited Partner, SCB will become deeply involved with
Fintech-focused companies in the US and have greater exposure to Fintech
startups in the US in their early stage. At the same time, SCB will
have the opportunity to explore more financial
technology implementation cases.
Thana Thienachariya, chairman of Digital Ventures’ executive committee,
said: “This partnership marks a significant milestone for SCB in
growing our global network of “fintech radars”. The US is a large
fintech startup market with approximately US$13 billion investment every
year. Coupled with the country’s innovation capability,
it is important for us to have a strong presence in this market.
Thanks to Nyca’s extensive connection in both finance and technology, we
strongly believe that Nyca will be a great radar scanning new
opportunities for us in the US market. This partnership
will create new opportunities for SCB to gain information and knowledge
in Fintech area. At the same time, SCB’s particular business units will
be able to explore new opportunities in developing new financial
products and services for its consumers in the
near future.
Nyca
Partners is a leading venture capital headquartered in New York, USA.
Led by veteran
banker Hans Morris, who was ranked by Institutional Investor Magazine
as no. 10 out of 35 investors in its 2016 FinTech / Finance 35 survey,
and a team of leading investment partners and advisors with vast
experience and deep expertise in the financial industry
and technology, Nyca has rich experience and deep connections in both
finance and technology. It has a unique perspective and facility to help
entrepreneurs transform payments, credit models, digital advice, and
financial infrastructure. By bringing together
expertise on the financial system with lots of Silicon Valley
connections, Nyca has concretely helped many entrepreneurs succeed. The
company has a goal of investing US$25 million a year in firms innovating
in financial technology and payments
"Nyca is proud to be partnered with a company as innovative and reputable as SCB and
we believe the bank will be a very valuable asset for our portfolio companies in their efforts to expand to Asia," said Morris.
“By
combining Nyca’s expertise in bridging financial system expertise and
Silicon Valley connections technology together with SCB’s funding,
fintech entrepreneurs in Nyca’s portfolios will have greater access to
funds and opportunity to enter into the Asian market. At the same time,
SCB, driven by our subsidiary Digital Ventures,
will be able to strengthen our position as the financial institution
with insightful information that will help optimize their potential,”
said Thana.
About Digital Ventures
Founded
in 2016, Digital Ventures,
a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank, is a company that promotes
innovation in financial technology. Following the bank’s strategy to
enter digital transformation, Digital Ventures aims to be a part in
driving changes in the banking industry through investment,
innovation and supporting Thai businesses to grow with SCB. At its
inception, Digital Ventures had US$50 million (1.76 billion baht) in
capital for investment in financial technology. For more information,
visit
www.dv.co.th.
About Nyca Partners
Nyca
Partners is a venture capital and advisory firm exclusively focused on
applying
innovation in financial services into the global financial system. Our
rich experience and deep connections in both finance and technology give
us a unique perspective and facility to help entrepreneurs transform
payments, credit models, digital advice, and
financial infrastructure. We strive to form truly collaborative
partnerships, offering investment capital and expert advice. The
investment team is comprised of Hans Morris, Jeff Reitman, and David
Sica; the COO is Ravi Mohan. For more information, visit
www.nyca.com.
