Vantage Point by EMVC - May 16 2025
Updates to keep up with the latest in fintech from our vantage point.
Welcome back,
This week, Bank of America highlighted India as top investment destination in APAC. Foxconn launched a semiconductor JV with HCL. Worldline is in talks to sell India business. Norwest Venture Partners invested in IKF Finance. M1Xchange raised a $10mm round.
From the team at EMVC.
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Weekend read: India outshines Japan and China as top investment destination in APAC. "...The Bank of America survey of Asia-Pacific fund managers for May 2025 shows that India is the most favored destination for investors, beating Japan to second place. China is a distant third...There is little doubt that the Indian economy’s standing as one of those least affected by the tariff wars has been a big reason. India is still the fastest-growing large economy in the world and its stock market is much more diversified than other Asia-Pacific markets, which is why valuations in the Indian market are always at a premium to its Asian peers..."
Foxconn has launched a $430mm joint venture with HCL to set up a semiconductor unit in India. The JV is expected to manufacture ~36mm display driver chips each month for various electronic devices.
French payments company Worldline is in talks to sell its India business for $200mm. Reportedly, the company had deployed 500K payment terminals across India with partner banks as of 2023.
Norwest Venture Partners led a $170mm investment round in IKF Finance. The lender has a loan book of $783mm focused on secured SMB credit and home loans.
Receivables discounting platform M1xchange has raised $10mm led by Filter Capital. M1xchange claims to facilitate ~1.2Bn in invoice financing each month and works with 52K SMB and enterprise clients.
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