Digital Ventures, the fintech investment subsidiary of Thailand-based financial services firm Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), has unveiled its strategy to bolster the regional startup ecosystem across three major divisions.
Dubbed Forwarding Fintech, the initiative formalises Digital Ventures’ mission to invest and innovate through a $50m commitment provided by SCB. It establishes a corporate venture capital arm, an accelerator and a research and development division.
The CVC unit will be led by managing director Polapat Arkkrapridi and will invest from the initial capital pool provided by SCB. Its first investment is in venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures’ $60m early-stage fund, closed earlier this month.
The unit has also signed a memorandum of understanding with fintech-focused VC fund Life.Sreda to collaborate on research and investment.
Digital Ventures’ acelerator will be headed by Charle Charoenphan. The initiative will select half of participating startups from the fintech sector, with the remainder coming from unspecified other areas.
Startups can apply until the end of August for the first cohort, with a grant of ฿300,000 ($8,500) to go to each company.
Finally, the R&D arm, named Digital Products Division, will be led by managing director of digital products Suvicha Sudchai. The unit will focus on technologies such as blockchain, machine learning, the internet of things and biometrics.
The division’s first product is a free bank simulation platform that serves as a virtual testing environment. The department will also launch a software development tool known as API to let startups build products on top of SCB’s offerings.
According to Digital Ventures’ website, the subsidiary has also created a fourth division called Discovery Lab, which will conduct experimental activities. However, the unit is not mentioned in the press release and further details of its aims have not yet emerged.