Digital Horizon Venture Fund invested in a Singapore fintech company Honest Bank during its series A round. The company raised a total of $19.7 million; the round was led by Insignia Ventures Partners and Digital Horizon VC. Digital Horizon invested $5.5 million.
Honest Bank aims to become a leader of the credit card market in South-East Asia. The project got off the ground in Indonesia where only 3% of the population have credit cards. Previously, the Honest Bank founders worked for investment banks, fintech-focused venture funds, and the Big Four firms. One of them, Peter Panas, led the Apple Card launch at Goldman Sachs. Another co-founder, Will Ongkowidjaja, founded Alpha JWC Ventures — a leading VC in Indonesia with a fintech focus.
The funding raised during the round will be used to receive a licence for credit card issuing. Honest Bank also plans to increase their headcount and open new offices in Bangkok and Jakarta.
Alan Vaksman, the Founder and Managing Partner at Digital Horizon:
"Although Honest Bank is a young company, we see that their team is able to achieve the declared goal — to build a new fintech giant in the Southeast Asian market. The share of online shopping is growing in this region, but there are still not enough modern technological credit products. Honest Bank may become an Asian Nubank".