Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), through its financial technology (fintech) subsidiary Digital Ventures, today announced a significant development in its investment in Nyca Fund II, one of the US’ top fintech-focused funds with distinguished reputation for its capability to bring together the expertise of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. This marks a new milestone in SCB’s efforts to grow its global network of fintech investments.

Under the partnership agreement, SCB will be one of Nyca’s only 10 institutional limited partners. As a Limited Partner, SCB will become deeply involved with Fintech-focused companies in the US and have greater exposure to Fintech startups in the US in their early stage. At the same time, SCB will have the opportunity to explore more financial technology implementation cases.

Thana Thienachariya, chairman of Digital Ventures’ executive committee, said: “This partnership marks a significant milestone for SCB in growing our global network of “fintech radars”. The US is a large fintech startup market with approximately US$13 billion investment every year. Coupled with the country’s innovation capability, it is important for us to have a strong presence in this market.  Thanks to Nyca’s extensive connection in both finance and technology, we strongly believe that Nyca will be a great radar scanning new opportunities for us in the US market. This partnership will create new opportunities for SCB to gain information and knowledge in Fintech area. At the same time, SCB’s particular business units will be able to explore new opportunities in developing new financial products and services for its consumers in the near future.

Nyca Partners is a leading venture capital headquartered in New York, USA. Led by veteran banker Hans Morris, who was ranked by Institutional Investor Magazine as no. 10 out of 35 investors in its 2016 FinTech / Finance 35 survey, and a team of leading investment partners and advisors with vast experience and deep expertise in the financial industry and technology, Nyca has rich experience and deep connections in both finance and technology. It has a unique perspective and facility to help entrepreneurs transform payments, credit models, digital advice, and financial infrastructure.  By bringing together expertise on the financial system with lots of Silicon Valley connections, Nyca has concretely helped many entrepreneurs succeed. The company has a goal of investing US$25 million a year in firms innovating in financial technology and payments

"Nyca is proud to be partnered with a company as innovative and reputable as SCB and we believe the bank will be a very valuable asset for our portfolio companies in their efforts to expand to Asia," said Morris.

“By combining Nyca’s expertise in bridging financial system expertise and Silicon Valley connections technology together with SCB’s funding, fintech entrepreneurs in Nyca’s portfolios will have greater access to funds and opportunity to enter into the Asian market. At the same time, SCB, driven by our subsidiary Digital Ventures, will be able to strengthen our position as the financial institution with insightful information that will help optimize their potential,” said Thana.  

About Digital Ventures

Founded in 2016, Digital Ventures, a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank, is a company that promotes innovation in financial technology. Following the bank’s strategy to enter digital transformation, Digital Ventures aims to be a part in driving changes in the banking industry through investment, innovation and supporting Thai businesses to grow with SCB.  At its inception, Digital Ventures had US$50 million (1.76 billion baht) in capital for investment in financial technology. For more information, visit www.dv.co.th.  

About Nyca Partners

Nyca Partners is a venture capital and advisory firm exclusively focused on applying innovation in financial services into the global financial system. Our rich experience and deep connections in both finance and technology give us a unique perspective and facility to help entrepreneurs transform payments, credit models, digital advice, and financial infrastructure. We strive to form truly collaborative partnerships, offering investment capital and expert advice. The investment team is comprised of Hans Morris, Jeff Reitman, and David Sica; the COO is Ravi Mohan. For more information, visit www.nyca.com.