WeLab
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (November 2023) |
Financial technology | |
Founded | January 2013 |
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Founder |
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Headquarters | Hong Kong |
Key people |
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Website | welab |
WeLab Limited is a
Outside of Hong Kong, WeLab also operates in mainland China and Indonesia. As of 2020, WeLab had over 40 million customers and facilitated over HK$50 billion in loans.[2]
History
WeLab Limited was first established on 22 November 2012 in Hong Kong as WeLend, but began operating as WeLab in January 2013.[3] Later that year, WeLend launched as a standalone product – Hong Kong's first online consumer credit lending platform. In 2014, WeLab began to expand outside of Hong Kong, first into mainland China with Wolaidai (我来贷), then into Indonesia in 2018.[citation needed]
In April 2019, WeLab was granted Hong Kong's fourth virtual banking licence, and the company launched WeLab Bank.[4]
Funding
Series A
In January 2015, WeLab raised US$20 million in its Series A fundraising round. Key investors include CK Hutchison's TOM Group; Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital; Yuri Milner, founder of DST Global; ICONIQ Capital; and Ule.com, a joint venture between China Post, China's state-owned postal service and TOM Group.
Series B
In January 2016, WeLab raised US$160 million in its Series B fundraising from a consortium of international and domestic Chinese investors led by
In November 2017, WeLab raised US$220 million in its new financing from Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and global financial institutions China Construction Bank (International), Credit Suisse and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.[5]
Series C
In late 2019, WeLab raised US$156 million (HK$1.2 billion) of Series C strategic financing, bringing its total funding to over $580 million.[6]
In March 2021, WeLab raised US$75 million in a Series C1 from Allianz X, a venture capital arm of European financial conglomerate Allianz.[7]
Brands
Company | Markets served | Sector |
---|---|---|
Taoxinji | China | Lending |
Tianmian Lab | China | B2B FinTech services |
Wallet Gugu | China | Payments |
WeLab Digital | China | Lending |
WeLab Bank | Hong Kong | Banking |
WeLab Pay | Hong Kong | Payments |
WeLend | Hong Kong | Lending |
Bank Jasa Jakarta | Indonesia | Banking |
Maucash | Indonesia | Lending |
Leadership
- Group Chief Executive Officer: Simon Loong (since January 2013)
References
- ^ Yiu, Enoch (7 May 2018). "WeLab joins fintech race to become Hong Kong's first licensed virtual bank". SCMP.
- ^ "WeLab". CNBC. 16 June 2020.
- ^ "WeLend Ltd". Bloomberg.
- ^ "WeLab gets Hong Kong's fourth online-only banking licence". Reuters. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- ^ Financial tech startup WeLab raises $220M from investors including Alibaba, the IFC and Credit Suisse, Techcrunch, 7 November 2019
- ^ "WeLab". CNBC. 16 June 2020.
- ^ "Hong Kong fintech unicorn WeLab raises $75M led by insurance giant Allianz". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 July 2021.