Singapore Fintech Association to Give Startups Access to R3 Corda

Published at: July 15, 2020

The Singapore Fintech Association and R3 have entered a partnership to provide startups in the SFA network with access to R3’s Corda blockchain.

In an announcement on July 14, the SFA said that startups would receive support from R3’s Venture Development program, which provides a gateway into R3’s ecosystem for all pre-series A companies that are building on Corda.

Corda is an open-source enterprise blockchain platform that is used by an expanding network of over 350 participants who build distributed applications (CorDapp) on the platform for a range of industries, such as financial services, insurance and healthcare. 

Access to the Corda blockchain platform is expected to provide SFA startups with opportunities to reduce costs, generate new revenue streams and reshape domestic and international markets. 

The R3 Venture Development Program provides participants with access to community events, workshops, mentorship from industry members, as well as help with forging relationships with investors. 

The SFA has said that its partnership with R3 is part of the association’s long-term commitment to the city-state’s blockchain ecosystem. 

SFA President Mr. Chia Hock Lai said, “This type of collaboration between organizations with the purpose of supporting early stage blockchain companies in their venture journey is what SFA seeks in order to create a stronger, inclusive FinTech ecosystem.” 

Before its collaboration with SFA, R3 had established partnerships with IMDA’s OpenNodes initiative, Tribe Accelerator, F10 and LongHash. 

The SFA will also take part in Singapore Blockchain Week, a government-supported virtual blockchain event this July that gathered together over 5000 participants.

Corda’s core vision

As reported last fall, there have been claims that R3’s Corda platform — notwithstanding its strong network of over 350 — has been at the center of fundamental disagreements between engineers and the company’s senior management. 

Sources alleged that uncertainty regarding R3’s identity — split between operating as a financial software firm and leading a more wide-ranging tech consortium — is one of the factors contributing to delays in the product’s design and development. 

At issue is also reportedly how far the network should prioritize interoperability or otherwise take a “maximalist” approach to driving Corda adoption.

Tags
Adoption
Technology
Blockchain
Singapore
Corda
R3
Related Posts
Indian Tech Giant Mahindra Speeds Up Cross Border Transactions with Blockchain
Tech Mahindra, the IT subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group, has become the first Indian business to use R3’s blockchain-based Marco Polo Network for conducting cross-border transactions. It said the platform had resulted in faster reconciliation and ambiguity resolution, as well as the significant reduction of paperwork and time required for the entire transaction cycle. Tech Mahindra partnered with Singapore’s DBS Bank, which facilitated the transactions and acted as the company’s leading trade bank. The parties used the Marco Polo Receivables Discounting product which is designed to help companies optimise their working capital, improve liquidity and mitigate credit risk. Marco …
Adoption / March 27, 2020
Russian Alfa-Bank joins HSBC-backed blockchain trade finance network
Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia, has joined a blockchain trade finance network backed by HSBC. According to an official announcement on Nov. 3, Alfa-Bank is the first Russian bank to become a member of Contour — a blockchain platform connecting the world’s major financial institutions like HSBC, ING and Citi. The network allows bank customers to track the processing and modification of trade finance transactions and cut operational costs. Evgenia Fomina, head of the Alfa-Bank lending directorate, said that Contour-based pilots in the Russian market intend to improve the quality of cross-border transactions, stating: “The …
Technology / Nov. 3, 2020
HSBC Bangladesh uses blockchain to import 20,000 tons of fuel oil from Singapore
The Bangladesh branch of global banking firm HSBC has conducted the country’s first blockchain-based letter of credit transaction on the Contour DLT platform. The transaction was used to settle the importation of 20,000 tonnes of fuel oil from United Group’s Singapore subsidiary United Mymensingh Power. HSBC Bangaladesh’s chief executive, Md Mahbub ur Rahman, described the transaction as showcasing the bank’s commitment “to supporting cross-border trade by Bangladeshi businesses using cutting-edge technology platforms.” “I believe this will usher in a new era of routing international trade transactions as businesses and governments recognize transparency, security and swiftness in performing tasks using blockchain …
Blockchain / Nov. 3, 2020
Swiss Stock Exchange SIX to Use R3 Corda Enterprise for Blockchain-Based Trading Platform
Switzerland's principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, has chosen to use blockchain consortium R3’s Corda Enterprise platform for its forthcoming blockchain-powered digital exchange. The news was revealed during the R3-hosted Corda Day event in Singapore on March 6. The SIX Swiss Exchange sees roughly 4.62 billion Swiss Francs (CHF) (~$4.6 billion) in daily turnover, and has a market capitalization of over 1.67 trillion CHF ~($1.6 trillion). As Cointelegraph reported in July 2018, SIX previously unveiled its plans to launch a digital asset ecosystem, dubbed Six Digital Exchange (SDX). In February 2019, the company announced it would be testing blockchain integration …
Adoption / March 7, 2019
Commerzbank, Siemens and Continental Complete Blockchain Money Market Pilot
German banking and financial services company Commerzbank and technology companies Continental and Siemens have jointly conducted a money market security transaction pilot using blockchain technology. Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reported on the development on Feb. 21. Money market securities are short-terms assets that serve for financing companies and usually have a maturity of one year or less. Usually, the processing of a payment takes two days due to a clearing process. The aforementioned parties “for the first time” conducted a blockchain-based money market security transaction worth 100,000 euro ($113,340) within a pilot project in January, where Continental acted as the issuer …
Adoption / Feb. 21, 2019