Pickupp, HKbitEX, and FinLink score fresh investments as Asian VCs regain vitality

Pickupp, HKbitEX, and FinLink score fresh investments as Asian VCs regain vitality

As Asian VC investment for early-stage start-ups rebounds after dipping earlier this year, Cyberport community companies Pickupp, HKbitEX, and FinLink reported good news in completing their new fundraising rounds. The developments are a reflection of investor confidence in Asia’s digital transformation and in the Greater Bay Area’s boundless prospects for new economy companies.

Pickupp, the Cyberport Incubation Programme alumnus that specialises in same-day courier delivery service, completed a Series A investment from Vision+ Capital, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Cyberport Macro Fund, Swire Properties New Ventures and SparkLabs Taipei. Already operating successfully in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan, the start-up plans to use the new capital to accelerate its Asia-Pacific expansion. It is aiming to bring its services to 10 major markets within the next five years, diversify its product portfolio to serve e-commerce and digital-first businesses better, and ride on the wave of explosive growth in e-commerce to capture more opportunities.

“Pickupp is redefining logistics with a tech and data-driven approach. Our technology, agility, transparency, and innovation enable our customers to effectively scale and thrive,” said Crystal Pang, CEO of Pickupp.

Meanwhile, FinTech incubatee HKbitEX, a virtual asset trading platform for professional investors, closed a Series A2 round and raised US$10 million from Axion Global Investment Limited and Hanwha Asset Management Co., Ltd. plus other Fintech VCs. HKbitEX plans to use the new investment to advance its technological and compliance capabilities and to capture the opportunities presented by the upcoming Security Token Offering (STO) market.

Gao Han, CEO of HKbitEX, said: “Following the SFC’s introduction of a new licensing regime for crypto platforms in November, we have become the first Hong Kong company to apply for licensing. We are now developing a suite of enterprise solutions in anticipation of this market and offer more investment and liquidity opportunities for investors.”

As for FinLink, the cross-border payment and clearing services start-up announced that Garuda Capital Asia Limited has acquired a significant minority interest in the company. The round follows an earlier seed funding round in 2019 led by PF Ventures and Garuda Capital that raised US$2.5 million.

As explained by Huang Peng, the start-up’s Co-founder and CEO, FinLink plans to use the investment to realign its strategic focus and strengthen FinLink’s data analytics and AI capabilities to improve its operations. It also aims to leverage its strong backing of shareholders to develop more innovative products and solutions for their regional clients.