Using InvestoAsia for Newgen Investments

  • 12 January 2020 | 1285 Views | By Mint2Save
What is Investoasia

Investing money paves the way for the growth of wealth. The new-gen, today, is on the onset to learn this practice of not only earning money but also managing it. This trend comes in light of ever-evolving technology.

The digitalization of finance, also known as the fintech way, has helped to make this process easier and much faster. There are greater involvement and consciousness to invest, and, amidst this culture, InvestoAsia has come up to make a difference. 

Subsequently, it has been chosen as one of the only two companies to represent India in Hong Kong, making it the top 10 finalists in Conquest by Accel Partners and L&T. 

InevstoAsia – What it does

InvestoAsia is a Gurugram-based and Hong Kong-based startup that is around a year old and aims to help retail investors with investments in the international capital markets, preferably emerging markets. The company has developed some financial tools that help investors to participate in global financial markets via their platform. The online platform uses blockchain technology and artificial intelligence for this purpose.

InvestoAsia was founded by Smriti Tomar to bring to the people, in a sense “a powerful virtual bank”. She has created a platform that provides savings, investing, lending, borrowing, and spending. 

This all in one approach was designed keeping the common man in mind, the unbanked and those who are not so financially literate, to bring all financial data in one place. She calls InvestoAsia a “financial lifestyle product”, as the Artificial Technology used on the platform, put, helps to lead a better and more operational, financial lifestyle.

Business Model

InvestoAsia comes up at a time when a bureaucratic process guides the Indian market from the broker’s side. This very process appeals only to individuals with a high net worth. Also, Indian firms do not seem to offer useful and unique services to overseas retail investors. 

Other constraints follow like having the market knowledge for the vast global market and difference in hours of opening, etc. 

InvestoAsia vision – Democratise Access to Emerging Markets through innovation-driven blockchain and device investment solutions, so that lack of market knowledge does not let any investor fall behind. 

InvestoAisa mission Enable all class of investors from anywhere in the world to be able to invest in emerging economies through a border-less platform that is operational 24×7, where the services are low cost and digitalized. Such a practice will help to open markets for investment for all classes of investors. 

The platform targets the incoming investments to emerging markets, realizing their potential and fueling them further. MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) has classified 23 economies under the list of “Emerging Markets“. 

From this list, 15 outperforming countries are from Asia, which include China, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, and South Korea. It is predicted that $11 trillion would be added to the global economy by the year 2030 when these said economies succeed. Their performance will create a pool of opportunities, to flourish and prosper.

Setting up in Hong Kong then had its strategic reasons. Hong Kong is the financial hub of Asia, and many international funds are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Their listing guarantees greater exposure to most of the Asian stock markets. 

It also, after Australia, is the one place that provides virtual banking licenses. InvestoAsia does have plans of being a virtual bank in India.

Smriti Tomar, InvestoAsia founder, and CEO realized how difficult it is for people to invest overseas, especially in the case of Asia. InvestoAsia is registered in both India and Hong Kong, thus making it easier to focus on Asian markets and obtain the licenses and comply with any requisite regulations.  

The business model is unique in the sense that the company does not rely on management fees by the customers or commissions. When trade is sent for processing and progression, through their online platform, market makers are charged. Other such charges include subscription fees for customers who are pros. Additionally, merchants who list on the InvestoAsia platform are charged.  

The startup currently gets its significant funding from angel investors to build the platform. It further looking forward to funds from Hong Kong-based investors to grow investment activities in China. The current target is to turn profitable by August 2023, with the aim of revenue more than $100 million.

The use of Blockchain Technology

The company uses blockchain technology to help its users invest better. However, there were initial hurdles. Warren Buffett, who is one of the most successful investors in the world, has famously said that “Bitcoin has no unique value at all”. He has not regarded the blockchain technology with such high regard. However, the founder’s passion led the way for the development of InvestoAsia. It is now being famously recognized. 

The blockchain technology used on the platform for issues securities. Such operations help to create a digital footprint of every user/investor who invests via the platform. Thus, the entire process becomes a secure one.

Also, Investors can make investments directly, with the funds reaching the destination directly, without the interface of banks, custodian banks, exchanges, clearinghouses, etc. A plan is being envisioned to launch peer-to-peer trading over the blockchain. This launch faces hurdles in India as the government is not clear about its stand on a blockchain. But this will be possible in other markets. 

How do we use it?

The platform has a simplified user interface; thus, investing overseas had never been this easier. When an investor visits the platform, there is a KYC and verification process. The user’s bank account then is synced to the platform. 

A monthly auto-debit follows, and then the user automatically has access to a range of solutions to stocks and funds. Based on the risk that the individual investor can undertake, it creates a customized portfolio of solutions. All these investors also have various tools via which investment overseas can be made possible.

InvestoAsia’s flagship product is Stack Finance, making it perfect for next-gen to make investments. It provides products that help manage finance. Thus, personal finance becomes more feasible. Therefore, a newbie investor, a college student or a newly employed individual can manage their savings, credit card expenses, and investments, not only in India but also in international stock markets. (how do we use it).

Their customers and competitors

Customers primarily hail from India and South Korea. Currently, there are around 50,000 registered users on the platform. 

The competition comprises of traditional banks, discount brokers and interactive brokers.

The company plans to operate with the plans also to provide customers with savings accounts services. It may also tie-up with NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies). The company has envisaged increasing operations of the virtual bank or Neobank, to provide faster and more convenient services that are affordable.

Future Plans

The company is mostly working on automation. It awaits for an advisory license from Hong Kong and India. They are doing this to increase financial literacy in India so that the culture of investing blossoms and money is not left idle. Increasing investments will encourage the growth of wealth and capital. The innovation here is continuous. It is predicted that if the investing culture improves in India, then, by 2016, 80 million people would be investing. 

The company has plans to be fully operational in the next 5-6 years, to expand in countries like South Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and even the US and Europe.

Thus, InvestoAsia can be the best medium for next-gen investors. It not only encourages investments but also provides knowledge and a platform to make investments abroad. This innovation can make a difference in the global financial markets, with greater cooperation and exchange of information. 

The next-gen has a lot to learn through this platform. Specific services are provided, and the interface is easy to use. InvestoAsia can be more significant when people integrate more on the platform. This can help economies bloom at better than predicted rates. More than anything, it works to harbor the culture of investing idle money.

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