WeLab, a Hong Kong start-up operating the online lending platform WeLend.hk and the mobile lending platform Wolaidai.com has secured $160M in venture capital. The company is now valued at roughly $1B.
Claimed to be a near-unicorn start-up by the press, we wondered what makes WeLab unique. Its main advantages are its swift processing of credit applications (it takes the system 15 seconds to process an application and propose a rate), it’s build your own rate tool and its specialized appraisal system for different scenarios.
The start-up does not seem to use Blockchain technology in any of its products. We asked our expert Oleg Khovayko at Emercoin how implementing the Blockchain system could be beneficial to this system:
“WeLab could use the Blockchain technology to deploy a public ledger (restricted to its partners rather than the general public) containing information about the credit lines, missed payments and other valuable information which would enable its lenders network to optimize their application processing process – essentially the Blockchain would take on the role of a Credit Bureau.
Moreover, by implementing technologies such as EMCSSL+Infocard customers would benefit from a safer web-environment when filling out their applications for credit and reduce the risks of fraud.
- Oleg Khovayko, Emercoin”
WeLab’s success is also great news for Hong Kong’s government. After noticing the lack of capital influx for start-ups, the Innovation and Technology Bureau has been actively undertaking steps to promote Hong Kong’s start-ups, giving hope that shortages of financing for start-ups could be soon a nightmare of the past.
