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Saemin Ahn
Managing Partner
Rakuten Capital
View LinkedIn profileSaemin is the Founding and Managing Partner of Rakuten Ventures circa 2013 and now in charge of Rakuten Capital international investment. Based in Singapore, Saemin drives the international investment direction of the group, taking positions in various verticals such as Machine Learning / AI, New Energy, Robotics, and Aerospace.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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1:30–2:00pmFri 20 NovFutureMatters StageHall 5, Singapore EXPOPremium
Others
The Napkin Pitch Is Dead. What Gets an Emerging-Market Fintech Funded?
About this session
Capital hasn't left emerging-market fintech. It has just stopped funding the napkin. In the first half of 2026, Southeast Asian fintechs raised US$682 million and MENA fintechs raised US$617 million. In both regions a single round took a third or more of the total, and the number of deals fell sharply. Investors now want real revenue and a short road to profitability before they commit. Investors from the Gulf and North Asia sit alongside two Southeast Asian fintechs to compare what each market rewards, which metrics get a term sheet signed and what founders should ask of the investors they bring onto their cap table.
