Hong Kong-based neo-bank Neat has secured $3 million in fresh funding as it makes a play for Chinese business startups incorporating in Hong Kong. The new round was led by China-based venture capital firm Linear Capital, an early stage venture focusing on data-driven startups. This brings the total funding raised by Neat this year to $5M. Existing investors including Dymon Asia Ventures and Portag3 Ventures also participated, as well as Hong Kong-based Sagamore investments.Neat launched its personal banking service last year, offering a smart budgeting and savings app with a companion card, using facial recognition technology to authenticate customers at log-in.Neat Business offers a multi-user business account - accompanied by Mastercard debit cards - that provides businesses anywhere in the world with a dedicated Hong Kong bank account number.David Rosa, CEO and Co-Founder of Neat, says: “Today we are seeing more enterprises - new and established - from China venturing beyond their domestic market and Neat is perfectly positioned to offer this growing group of businesses financial access and the ability to expand their footprint globally.”Signup with Neat takes 10 minutes, after which customers get access to a dashboard providing a simple overview of the state of all finances, and features mechanisms for receiving payments, payroll and expense management. Users can also make payments to more than 60 countries at the click of a button. The company says it will use the new capital to accelerate the release of new products and grow the team. It also intends to lean on Linear Capital’s expertise in data science and tap into Linear's network in the China market.
Hong Kong-based challenger bank Neat raised $3m funding in an investment round led by start-up-focused Chinese venture capital firm Dymon Asia Ventures. It has now secured $5m in financing this year, with existing backers including Linear Capital and Portag3 Ventures again involved. Neat introduced its banking service in 2017 with a budgeting and savings app, companion card and facial recognition technology. It is targeting Chinese business start-ups incorporating in Hong Kong and plans to utilise Linear’s network there as well as its data science expertise. The latest funding will help it move forward with product releases and increasing staff.