Singapore-based fintech startup STACS bags S$4.8m in pre-Series A round

SINGAPORE-based fintech development startup Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS) has snagged S$4.8 million (US$3.6 million) in a latest pre-Series A funding round. This brings its funding to S$8 million to date. (see amendment note)

New investors who participated in this round were Wavemaker Partners and blockchain accelerator Tribe. They were joined by existing shareholder Stellar Partners.

Benjamin Soh, co-founder and managing director of STACS, said that the startup is aiming to use half the funds for scaling the team, such as hiring for tech, engineering and business development roles.

The other half will be channelled towards scaling the business more generally. The startup also added that it will launch a Series A funding round "on a larger scale" later this year.

STACS offers live distributed ledger technology that supports the lifecycle management of securities, ESG (Environment, Social and corporate Governance) financing dimensions, encompassing green and sustainability-linked bonds and loans.

Some of the customers STACS currently serves include Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Bursa Malaysia. The startup aims to have a total of 30 customers on board by the end of this year.

Ray Ferguson, chairman at STACS, said current methods of processing transaction costs amount to a lot of waste - in time, money and carbon footprint.

"Innovating our way out of these problems is vital if we are to deliver a green and sustainable future for financial services," he added.

Amendment note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that this funding brings the valuation of STACS to more than S$8 million. In fact, it should be the total funding to date that is S$8 million.