The Singaporean fintech community has been boosted by new venture investments in local startups enepath and fastacash.
Voice trading platform outfit enepath has secured financial backing from the Ventures team of Australian telco Telstra. The firm says the equity investment will help accelerate product development, expand its capabilities into new geographies and capitalise on emerging market opportunities, outside the financial services industry.
Stephen Phillips, enepath CEO says: "Demand for our IP technology among global traders is increasing and this investment will help us scale quickly while accelerating some exciting product developments, including new desktop solutions and applications."
Telstra says the investment is the first in a plan to expand its financial services portfolio, with news of further funding for fintech startups expected over the coming months.
Elsewhere on the island, social payments platform Fastcash has banked US$15 million in Series B funding led by Rising Dragon Singapore. This takes total funding for the three-year old firm - which targets mobile users with limited access to financial service - to US$23.5 million.
The company says it will use the funds to expand its geographic reach by tapping into markets in the UK, USA, Europe and the Middle East to serve migrant populations active on social media.
In May, the firm struck a deal with India's Axis Bank to deploy a mobile payments service that lets users send money to each other through WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, email and phone contact lists.