Singapore fintech start-up arrives in Vilnius
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Vilnius, 28 September, 2017: A rapidly-growing Singapore-headquartered start-up financial technology firm, InstaReM, will provide international money transfer services in Europe from Vilnius. The Bank of Lithuania issued an approval today for the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence to the company. InstaReM plans to employ 25 Information Technology and Customer Service specialists by the end of the year and gradually build up its team in Lithuania.
“Our central operational headquarters for Europe and the North and South Americas will be based in Lithuania. From here, we will provide services for the whole of Europe and North Americas. We made this decision after considering the flexibility of the Bank of Lithuania, the speed of the EMI licence issuance, the excellent specialists in the country’s labour market and, last but not least – the operational costs. Having taken all of these factors into account, we see that Lithuania is the most competitive country for fintech companies,” said the co-founder and CEO of InstaReM, Prajit Nanu.
Searching for the most suitable location for investments, the representatives of the company considered the benefits of London as one of the key financial hubs in Europe, as well as many other countries in continental Europe.
Currently, the company provides services to individuals and businesses in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, India and Malaysia. The EMI licence issued by the Bank of Lithuania will allow operations in the common market of the European Union by passporting through the SEPA region. Moreover, in early 2018, InstaReM plans to apply for a specialised bank licence.
InstaReM has developed a strong internal training programme and aims to employ university graduates as well as experienced specialists. InstaReM foresees that a quarter of its employees will work in one of its major offices in Vilnius. Established in 2014, the company currently employs more than 100 staff.
“For several years, Lithuania has been working to improve the start-up ecosystem, providing more opportunities to young Lithuanian companies as well as rapidly growing new businesses from abroad. We have successful start-ups that have moved to Lithuania from neighbouring countries such as Russia or Belarus, but start-ups from Asia turn a new page in the history of the ecosystem,” said Minister of Economy Mindaugas Sinkevičius.
“In the sector of international financial transfers, Lithuania has discovered a market and shortly thereafter bridges of financial flows have appeared via Lithuania between the European Union and Israel, China and Singapore. The establishment of this company will make us part of an even bigger transatlantic network. Nevertheless, in the future, Lithuania should expand its range of specialisations in the fintech sector, which is rapidly attracting the interest of investors,” said Mantas Katinas, managing director of the investment promotion agency Invest Lithuania.
InstaReM is South East Asia’s largest digital cross-border payments company processing over 2 million transactions annually. The firm plans to invest approximately 3 million euros in its European operations over the next two years. InstaReM recently raised US$13 million from leading investors in Asia to fuel its expansion.
About InstaReM
InstaReM is a Singapore-headquartered cross-border payments company. Founded in 2014, InstaReM is licensed as a Money Services Business (MSB) in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Canada. It powers local payments to more than 50 countries across the globe. InstaReM has created a unique payment mesh in Asia, which is being leveraged by financial institutions, SMEs and individuals to make fast low-cost cross-border payments.