Trend Lab Nabs $12.7M To Boost Corporate FinServ With AI

Trend Lab, a startup developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the FinTech market, has revealed it secured new funding.

In a press release issued Tuesday (Jan. 16), the company said it raised more than $12.7 million from angel investors. Trend Lab was established in less than three months by its Founder and CEO Tin Mok, reports said, who wants to enhance FinTech across Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region.

“The application of AI technology in the FinTech industry across the Asia-Pacific region is still in its embryonic stage, and most technologies — including smart customer service, Big Data analysis, customer relations management, enterprise resource planning, business acquisitions, electronic payments, corporate credit rating systems and more — require a high degree of integration to unleash their full corporate value,” Mok said in a statement. “Of these, Big Data, blockchain and AI are integral to a successful and progressive FinTech industry.”

According to the company, Trend Lab includes involvement from key players in the industry, including Tencent and 360. The company announced the financial support while noting it aims to develop its own Big Data and AI solutions and to apply blockchain, cloud and SaaS technologies into its operations as well.

“With more data and increased computing efficiency, AI technology can establish new and more accurate monetary and financial systems for corporates to better understand consumers’ needs, as well as more efficient services for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises,” the founder continued. “We … translate current financial systems into smart systems, exploring the unseen values and opportunities for businesses.”

Hong Kong has emerged as a hotbed for FinTech innovation, especially when it comes to technologies like blockchain. Last month, reports said Hong Kong and Singapore reached an agreement to link trade finance platforms using blockchain technology in an effort to combat errors and fraud in cross-border trade and finance.