Hadigy to acquire 30 pct in Neurogine for US$10 mln
08 Mar 2021
LABUAN, March 8 — Malaysian financial technology (fintech) start-up Neurogine Sdn Bhd has sealed an agreement with Hadigy Ltd, a UK-based investment holding company, whereby Hadigy will acquire 30 per cent stake of Neurogine for US$10 million.
The deal was done through Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (MIDA) Domestic Investment Coordination Platform (DICP) which allowed Hadigy to acquire 1.93 million ordinary shares of Neurogine, a fintech specialising in digitalisation of mobile banking, mobile payment and digital asset solutions.
Neurogine chief executive officer Owen Chen Chee Onn said the funds would be utilised for the expansion of its sales, marketing efforts and execute its product innovation roadmap for the next three years.
Neurogine currently serves banks, corporations and private users in South East Asia and other regions.
“We are excited Hadigy shares our common to democractise financial services in this region,” he said during a virtual signing ceremony between Neurogine and Hadigy, represented by its executive director Hari Iyer today.
MIDA chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud witnessed the ceremony which was held virtually.
Azman said the agency has taken a proactive approach through DICP in supporting local companies, small and medium enterprises and start-ups to address challenges in limited access to funding.
“The presence of foreign funders such as Hadigy in this space would certainly help in accelerating the adoption of technology and stimulate the growth of fintech services in Malaysia,” he added.
Neurogine’s advanced financial innovations include Neurogine nPay, a fully integrated mobile payment solution with geo-location conveniences and payment options, Neurogine nBank, a full suite of mobile banking platform, Neurogine nCard, a Near Field Communication (NFC) and token service payment technology, Neurogine nTrade, an AIdriven, multi-routing, multi-pairing money broking platform and more.
Chen said a key Neurogine emphasis is its efforts to build ‘banking stacks’ to enable banks operate Application Programming Interface (API) platforms.
“Such platforms mean banks can connect account holders and third party service providers and deliver immensely flexible, mobile-first banking experiences.
“Our banking API’s are sandwiched between banks’ conventional back-end and front-end services provided by third party partners.
“This offer Neurogine opportunities to support banks with platforms like Neurogine nPay, Neurogine nCard and Neurogine nTrade,” he said.
Chen said banks could adopt completely new business models, new use cases and even take on new technologies like financial block chain applications and smart contracts to lower costs and improve customer satisfaction rate.
“We have just begun to scratch the surface, our innovations, combined with the funding offered by Hadigy goes far beyond the confines of our research labs.
“It will impact account holders, card holders, merchants; in governments, businesses, across borders, across sectors, and across institutions.
“Hadigy, with their expertise, particularly their experience, perspective and relationships, will help us execute our vision rapidly and broadly,” he added.
Iyer said Hadigy is an independent corporate finance and investment firm with a successful track record in mergers and acquisitions of medium enterprises, large global companies and public sector organisations.
“Hadigy is an Alliance Partner of Oracle Netsuite for Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, and an authorised representative of CIG Capital LLC for the South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.
“The recent Global Innovation Index 2020 reported Malaysia as the second-most innovative middle-income economy and ranked 33rd on a global index,” he added.
He said Malaysia’s dynamic and robust economy offer investors, like Hadigy, with a multitude of opportunities, particularly in technology.
Hadigy is supportive of techfins, like Neurogine, with a vision to expand and realise a vision of democratising financial services.
“It is gratifying to see Neurogine take the next step with us and tackle real world challenges like narrowing the gap of the unbanked and underbanked in this region,” Iyer said.
Source: Bernama
