JD Finance has announced the establishment of a venture capital fund, called ThousandTree Capital, to invest in early-stage companies (angel or A round) in the consumption field; JD Finance will hold minor shares in the startups; the investment decision will be to some extent driven by the data accumulated in the JD ecosystem. Source (Chinese)
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India has fast become one of the world's most interesting fintech markets; at LendIt USA 2017 we hosted a fireside chat focused on digital credit for the India population and how their biometric Aadhaar system plays a key role; a few key developments have helped the India population, the ease of acquiring a smartphone and the Aadhaar system; Aadhaar started with an investment by the India government eight years ago and today there is one billion Indians who have an Aadhaar number with key identifiable pieces of information; the government then began linking Aadhaar with the banking system and enlisted fintech firms to begin extending microloans to individuals and SMEs; Aadhaar helps to solve the biggest issue with lending, KYC, by using a retina scan or biometric signature to verify the borrower; the fireside chat also talked through how the lending process worked with Aadhaar and how it has helped to extend credit to a segment of the population that only a few years ago was unable to access capital. Source
The State Council's "Made in China 2025" initiative is seeking to transform China into a greater innovator of technology; the initiative seeks to capitalize on artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robotics and is being designated as a three-step national guideline; along with the initiative the country's State Council has identified 17 national-level innovation demonstration zones that will be allowed favorable policies in order to bolster their respective geographical strengths and support increased regional innovation. Source
Oliver Wyman has published a report titled "Fintech In China: Hitting The Moving Target"; the report says when it comes to fintech, China could claim to be a world leader in some respects, in spite of an increasing number of voices questioning the health and legitimacy of the fintech business models; Oliver Wyman believes that technological advances, coupled with the unique circumstances of China's financial system, will propel fintech companies to further drive innovation and disrupt the traditional financial services space. Source