KUALA LUMPUR: Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd has acquired 8 per cent of Singaporean financial technology (fintech) firm Helicap Pte Ltd.
It forms Helicap's Series B funding round, which sees Kenanga as the lead investor alongside Saison Capital Pte Ltd, the corporate venture capital arm of Credit Saison, Japan's largest non-bank financial companies.
Kenanga plans to raise its stake in Helicap to 10 per cent in the near future, to make Kenanga Group the largest institutional investor in Helicap.
The bank had also partnered with Helicap, to further advance its digitalisation initiatives.
Kenanga said the investment builds upon its broader digitalisation initiatives, following its investments into Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, CapBay, Tokenize Malaysia and Merchantrade.
"These partnerships reflect the group's commitment to collaborating with best-of-breed fintech companies that are pioneers in their fields."
"By deploying first-in-class digital technologies, it aims to continue to enhance its business activities, access new markets, and explore new segments," it added.
Kenanga managing director Datuk Chay Wai Leong said by focusing on digital innovation, it has provided multiple touchpoints to enable clients to engage with services more efficiently and effectively.
"Our investment into Helicap is a natural progression in our digitalisation journey, as Helicap's proprietary technology can potentially be embedded into Kenanga's own lending and investment banking business seamlessly to provide greater loan book transparency and analysis, portfolio and credit risk monitoring and granular-level data to identify nascent opportunities and obtain microeconomic insights", he said.