Fintech Firm Backed By Hong Kong Billionaire Richard Li Raises $22 Million In Funding Round Led By PCCW

Despite the downturn in startup financing, Hyphen Group, a fintech company headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore backed by the likes of Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and Goldman Sachs, raised a $22 million funding round.

The round was led by Li’s PCCW, which controls Hong Kong’s largest mobile phone operator HKT and streaming service Viu. Previous investors in Hyphen include the World Bank’s IFC, Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine Matheson and SBI, Japan’s biggest online brokerage.

“The closing of this funding round demonstrates the confidence of our investors at a time of high market volatility, but also with undeniable opportunities for profitable growth,” Prashant Aggarwal, group president of Hyphen, said in a statement on Friday. “We’re well positioned for the years ahead.”

At the same time, Sam Allen has stepped down as CEO after more than six years leading the fintech company. Allen, who will stay on as an advisor, will be replaced as CEO on an interim basis by Derek Fong and Kenneth Chan from Li’s private investment company Pacific Century Group, Hyphen’s largest shareholder.

Bloomberg News previously reported that Hyphen was in talks to go public through a SPAC merger valuing the company at up to $1 billion.

Founded in 2014, the company was formerly known as CompareAsiaGroup. The company helps analyze and compare financial products like credit cards and insurance in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. The company rebranded to Hyphen last year after it acquired Seedly, a Singaporean personal finance firm, from ShopBack.