News

Singapore-based Tryb Group, a financial tech platform, has secured $30 million in funding. The investor was Makara Innovation Fund.

PRESS RELEASE

Singapore – tryb Group, a financial technology platform, announced a US$30 million investment by Makara Innovation Fund (“MIF” or “the Fund”) a US$717 million private equity fund that invests in IP-driven small- to mid- companies with the aim of scaling, internationalizing and creating enterprise value.

The firm intends to utilise the investment capital to accelerate its acquisition plans of growth stage financial technology companies, particularly prioritizing in key segments as related to SME lending, trade finance and micro-credit. These acquisition targets are selected based on their enhanced capacity as data driven technologies, which ultimately serve to enable the origination, syndication and distribution of credit across the diverse markets of ASEAN. Supplementing its acquisition strategies, tryb concurrently designs, builds and implements technology projects in strategic collaboration with local entrepreneurs and business partners in the region, further extending tryb’s financial infrastructure network.

Markus Gnirck, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of tryb commented: “tryb is excited to have the Makara Innovation Fund lead this round as a strategic investor. We are looking forward to work with all our shareholders to roll out expansion plans and scale into an integrated financial infrastructure technology platform. Their extensive investment experience, combined with our deep networks in ASEAN markets, enhances our position to acquire, partner and operate global technology companies, with the aim of enabling the digitisation of ASEAN credit markets.”

“As a technology-driven company that leverages its defensible IP portfolio as a strategic asset, tryb signifies a unique investment value proposition. Underpinned by its strong leadership team, the company is poised to lead the transformation towards the digitisation of ASEAN’s credit markets, with the aim of sustaining its competitive edge through its management of its defensible and proprietary technology and know-how. Our partnership aims to support tryb’s objectives of enhancing their IP portfolio, scaling and expanding their international footprint, by executing organic and cross-border M&A strategies,” said Mr. Kelvin Tan, Director of Investments at Makara Innovation Fund.

In ASEAN, less than 60% of small to medium enterprises have access to bank loans, and approximately 50% of SMEs are unserved or underserved by financial institutions[1]. As an example, IFC Enterprise estimates that there is a US$11.8 billion credit gap in Indonesia, which represents a strong market opportunity powered by a demand for more accessible capital[2]. In addition, the lack of access to cloud-based banking technology infrastructure by smaller banks and microfinance institutions represents a green-field opportunity for digital distribution channels, which in turn enhance efficiency, lower the cost of capital and effectively connect global capital with end consumers across the growth markets of Asia.

Veiverne Yuen, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of tryb commented, “tryb is developing a platform that will effectively bridge consumers of capital with global capital markets seeking attractive returns on capital. By investing in digitalisation at origin, our platform creates value by producing conditions that enable digital straight through processing. The result is to channel deep global capital pools into the region in a manner that is efficient, cost-effective and sustainable, with the aim of catalysing value for the benefit of ASEAN’s consumers and businesses.”

Through its recent investment and integration of Chinsay, tryb has demonstrated its capacity for and capability in performing a significant role by enhancing the flow of capital and digitisation in the fields of trade and contracts.

As an integrated platform, tryb is leveraging its strong relationships with a robust network of family-owned and publicly listed conglomerates, banks, financial institutions and regulators throughout ASEAN in its efforts to design and roll out its expansion plans, which are focused on acquiring, nurturing and/or integrating key and synergistic components into its infrastructure platform from its strong pipeline of investment targets.

tryb aims to become the leading financial technology company in ASEAN driving digitisation and propelling financial inclusion for the region.

About tryb Group
tryb is a financial infrastructure company that acquires, develops and operates growth stage and middle market financial technology companies.

tryb represents an integrated platform of financial technology solutions focused on the core verticals of SME lending, trade finance and micro-credit. Core workflow solutions in creating, pricing and distributing credit products are augmented by value added modules in A.I., big data, cloud optimisation, distributed ledger, regulatory technology and security. tryb works with financial institutions, corporates and other FinTech firms to improve efficiencies and drive growth at the enterprise (B2B) level.

About Makara Capital
Founded in Singapore in 2005, Makara Capital is a global financial services company that specializes in fund management, private equity as well as structuring and financing with a core focus on innovation, infrastructure and energy. More information can be found at: www.makaracapital.com

About Makara Innovation Fund
Makara Innovation Fund is a private equity fund invests in late-stage start-ups and growth stage companies that demonstrate proven and defensible intellectual property, compelling fundamentals and a strong Pan-Asian growth trajectory. Deploying an interregional investment approach that leverages Singapore as a strategic hub, the Fund partners with commercially viable businesses that are at an inflection point, where the combination of strategic capital, networks, and additional resources catalyzes enterprise value creation.
The Fund has established a strategic alliance with IPOS, one of the leading Singapore Government agencies focused on innovation, with the aim of furthering IP management, monetization and commercialization in qualifying portfolio companies. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, IP ValueLab, IPOS will help innovative companies grow into global companies through strategic use and management of IP, as well as valuation and evaluation of intangible assets portfolio.