WeLab
Type
Private
IndustryFinancial Services, Technology, FinTech
Founded25 January 2013; 6 years ago (2013-01-25)
HeadquartersHong Kong
Key people
Simon Loong (Founder & CEO)
ProductsOnline financial products, B2B fintech solutions
Website Official website

WeLab is a financial technology (fintech) company headquartered in Hong Kong. WeLab currently operates Wolaidai (我来贷), one of China’s leading mobile lending platforms, WeLend, Hong Kong’s leading online lending platform, and a fintech joint venture AWDA in Indonesia.


History

In 2013, WeLab launched WeLend – Hong Kong’s first online lending platform. This represented WeLab’s first product launch and would pave the way for future geographical expansion.

In 2014, WeLab expanded into China with Wolaidai (我来贷), which is now one of China’s largest mobile lending platforms.

In 2018, WeLab expanded into Indonesia through the partnership with PT Astra International Tbk (“Astra”), one of Indonesia’s largest diversified holding companies. The two companies’ joint venture company AWDA provides cutting-edge fintech solutions to both retail and enterprise customers.

In April 2019, WeLab was granted Hong Kong's fourth virtual banking licence.

Series A Fundraising

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 Fundraising

In January 2016, WeLab raised US$160 million in its Series B fundraising from a stellar consortium of international and domestic Chinese investors led by Khazanah Nasional Berhad. Other investors include ING Bank and state-owned Guangdong Technology Financial Group (GTFG). The financing represents the first ever fundraising by a Chinese financial technology firm from both an international bank and government investors, and also one of the first financings of an international financial institution in a leading Chinese fintech player.

This fundraising round also ranked as the 5th largest fintech fundraising round out of 413 deals across the globe in the first half of 2016.

Strategic Financing

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 International Finance Corporation.

Technology

WeLab analyzes unstructured mobile big data to make credit decisions for individual borrowers. To date, the company has recorded zero fraud loss, despite not having met any of its customers face-to-face.

Products

WeLab offers financing products through its online lending platforms – WeLend, Wolaidai and Maucash in Hong Kong, China and Indonesia respectively.

Recognition

  • WeLab has been named #23 globally and #7 in China to KPMG's “2018 Fintech100” and it is also the only Hong Kong fintech company that has been named to the list for three consecutive years
  • WeLab was listed as one of China's top 50 fintech companies by KPMG from 2016-2018
  • WeLab recognized in 2018“一带一路”金融科技创新案例
  • WeLab wins The Asian Banker's "The Business Model of the Year" and "The Best Data Analytics Initiative, Application or Programme" awards
  • Simon Loong, Founder and CEO of WeLab, was awarded "InnoStars Award" by Our Hong Kong Foundation
  • Simon Loong, Founder and CEO of WeLab, was awarded "世界傑出華人青年企業家獎"
  • WeLab is the only Hong Kong company and only 1 of 5 in Greater China, to be recognized in a joint report by the World Bank's IFC, Stanford University Graduate School of Business and CreditEase as one of the top 100 fintech companies globally leading the way in solving financial inclusion
  • WeLab wins Hong Kong’s Technology Company of the Year 2016 awards
  • WeLab is one of top 18 featured startups in Asia for Tech in Asia
  • Simon Loong, Founder and CEO of WeLab, is the top ten FinTech influencer in Asia
  • WeLend is a finalist at Enterprising Hong Kong Brand Awards 2016, held by South China Morning Post
  • Wolaidai wins Talking Data 金融应用潜力榜亚军 in year 2016
  • Wolaidai wins 2015年度互联网金融大奖
  • Wolaidai wins 移动互联网2015年最具潜力奖

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article WeLab, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.