SYDNEY, 31 August 2021 —

AUSSIE-FOUNDED CRYPTO PLATFORM ZIPMEX ANNOUNCES MILESTONE SERIES B INVESTMENT WITH THAI BANKING JUGGERNAUT.

31 August 2021

Marcus Lim welcomes Krungsri Finnovate to Zipmex in a move that further cements crypto's move into the mainstream.

Zipmex, the Australian-founded crypto startup, announces a milestone Series B investor in Krungsri Finnovate Company Limited, Bank of Ayudhya PCL's corporate venture capital arm.

In recent weeks major media companies, including Thailand's Plan B Media Public Company Limited and Master Ad Public Company Limited, have also announced their involvement in Zipmex's US$41M committed investment round, which is currently oversubscribed.

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In what's a regional, industry-first move, publicly-traded multimedia companies, a prominent Thai bank, and internationally renowned venture capital firms have collectively invested in Zipmex to propel the 3-year-old startup's orbit. Another clear indicator that digital assets and cryptocurrencies have entered the mainstream and are here to stay.

The Krungsri Finnovate investment makes Bank of Ayudhya, part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the first banks globally and the first bank in Southeast Asia, to invest in a digital asset platform. The move puts the Bank of Ayudhya ahead of other large banks in the APAC region who have recently made moves in the digital asset space.

Marcus Lim, CEO, Zipmex

This commitment from Krungsri Finnovate is a huge step forward for us. It represents not only the validation of our business model and approach to innovation, but also of the potential for digital assets to become a core part of our lifestyle. A marriage of digital assets and traditional banking can provide new innovative use cases for money, which we have demonstrated through ZipWorld. Further use cases of Zlaunch, and ZipNFT are just the starting point of where we can evolve to be banking forward, lifestyle-focused.

Marcus Lim, CEO, Zipmex

Zipmex is the only legally compliant cryptocurrency exchange operating concurrently in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Zipmex is on a mission to educate, excite and enrich the lives of everyday people by demystifying crypto with its easy-to-use platforms. In using the platform, Zipmex users gain access to various financial services, including market-leading interest-bearing accounts. To date, the platform has seen over US$4 billion in gross transaction volume since its 2019 launch.

In addition to Australian founder Lim, Zipmex's executive team includes Australian University of New South Wales alumni, including Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Low, Chief Product Officer, Ken Tabuki and Chief Technology Office James Tippett. Zipmex recently opened a Sydney Headquarters led by Country Manager Nathan Halliday.

THE INVESTORS

Krungsri Finnovate invests in startups from Series A onwards across various fintech areas with strategic connections to Krungsri's businesses, including blockchain, lending, e-commerce, insurtech, and cross-border remittance. Its portfolio companies include Grab, Flash Express, Synqa and Finnomena.

Sam Tanskul, Managing Director, Krungsri Finnovate

Krungsri Finnovate places great importance on technology and financial innovation in every way. We believe that tech and innovation will be the driver of economical and society-focused solutions to the country's future. The close cooperation between us and Zipmex is a strong indication that we are in full support of financial development and innovation through different technological means and a strong belief that Zipmex will play a crucial role in such developments not just in Thailand, but in the Asia-Pacific region. Krungsri believes that this is an important opportunity for the Bank to dive into the digital assets industry and build a strong ecosystem that would provide solutions to our customers' changing needs. Furthermore, since we are part of MUFG, a world-class financial institution with presence in over 50 countries, we are able to provide Zipmex with all the synergies it may need to tap into in Asia and the rest of the world"

- Sam Tanskul, Managing Director, Krungsri Finnovate

Plan B Media is one of the largest and most innovative media companies in Thailand, which specialises in out-of-home media and engagement marketing, while Master Ad (MACO), is the media leader for billboards and street furniture with an extensive media footprint across SEA.

We believe Zipmex has one of the most promising teams of talent in the industry. They have a clear vision to ignite this digital asset revolution and have strong execution capabilities demonstrated by a solid track record since their launch. We look forward to supporting their growth with our network of integrated media and content portfolio. The digital asset space provides many opportunities for us to strengthen our ecosystem in the engagement marketing space including sports, artist management, and gaming. We are confident that this investment and partnership will secure Plan B's vision to be a leader in innovation

- Pinijsorn Luechaikajohnpan, PhD, Managing Director, Plan B Media

Hong Kong-based MindWorks Capital joins returning US-based investor, Jump Capital, which led Zipmex's oversubscribed Series A round earlier this January, has also signed onto the round - a testament to Zipmex's ability to attract investors from all parts of the globe.

Zipmex has also received interest from other high-profile regional and global investors; these will be announced in the coming weeks.

ZIPMEX SERVICES AND FEATURES

Aside from its fast, liquid, and secure digital asset platform, Zipmex has focused on expanding the number of ways in which its users can earn and spend, underpinned by its native ZMT token. The "earn" products include ZipUp — a flexible earnings account with daily payouts up to 8% APY, and ZipLock -a fixed-term earnings account with yields up to 14% per annum with bonus APY for ZMT holders.

ZipSpend, a digital asset payment solution for businesses looking to accept cryptocurrency as payment, has already facilitated several regional-firsts in luxury vehicles, art, and property transactions.

COMING SOON

Zipmex_Visa_Ver 2000px-novisa-01 (1).jpg

Earlier this month, the company announced Zipmex Card, a new Visa-backed payment card that launches later this year. The Zipmex-Visa provides Zipex users the freedom to spend their digital assets at the more than 70 million merchants from Visa's global payments network.

In Thailand, Zipmex has beta-launched ZipWorld — a world of digital assets where users can unlock exclusive lifestyle products and one-of-a-kind experiences using ZMT — and Z Launch — a platform that gives users early access to new investment tokens. Zipmex also plans to integrate ZipWorld with the booming non-fungible token (NFT) space.

Both ZipWorld and Z Launch are expected to roll out in Australia soon.

As digital assets have become increasingly popular, so has the demand for earn and spend products. ZipSpend and the Zipmex Card aim to revolutionise payments across the region by offering users greater flexibility, while ZipUp, ZipLock, ZipWorld, and Z Launch provide unprecedented earning opportunities. It is also important to note that any product we release will have to be approved by the respective regulatory bodies first.

Marcus Lim, CEO, Zipmex

In Singapore, Zipmex, through its subsidiary, Zipmex Pte Ltd, is currently in the advanced stages of applying for a Major Payment Institution licence application with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for, among others, digital payment token services.

Zipmex is also about to launch a new marketing campaign centred around the possibilities of access for all to the power of digital payments. The campaign will feature new global positioning and branding, showcased throughout Plan B Media's and MACO's out-of-home assets.

Is this Australia's next unicorn? Grab your sunnies because the future looks awfully bright.

ABOUT ZIPMEX

Zipmex is one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing digital asset platforms and the only one to be licensed in Thailand which operates under regulatory supervision in Indonesia and Australia, and under a current notified regulatory exemption in Singapore. Zipmex enables anyone with an internet connection to invest in a growing number of digital assets with its easy, safe, and secure platform.

Zipmex offers innovative, industry-leading products to nearly 1 million clients with over US$4 billion traded to date. Its mission is to give the next billion users access to new ways of building wealth. To enable its clients to do this, Zipmex continuously launches market-leading products such as ZipLock and ZipUp in addition to its crypto trading platform.

Zipmex targets clients and investors and constantly expands its network of individual, retail, and institutional clients and partners. By educating and exciting people about the possibilities of building digital wealth, Zipmex is well-positioned to lead the crypto boom for the next generation of digital wealth builders.
Zipmex.com.au
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