Fintech Academy signed with Alibaba Cloud and Pfizer a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) leading to the formation of a Healthcare Fintech Alliance (HFA) to catalyse transformation across Asia Pacific’s healthtech and fintech sectors.
The HFA will establish a Southeast Asia (SEA) Centre of Innovation in Singapore that aims to create a healthcare technological ecosystem to support startups and research centre in the region to provide scientific and technological expertise through incubator support, training content and incentive programs.
The alliance is set to spur the development of tech-driven innovations in the region, with Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam piloting this initiative, before its expansion to Malaysia and Philippines, subject to compliances of local legal regulations.
By sharing innovation best practices with local startups and businesses, HFA seeks to cement Singapore’s position as Asia’s digital capital by providing local organisations with a testbed where they can experiment, prototype and commercialise products and solutions for the region, with the right partners in funding, mentoring and networking.
Alibaba Cloud will provide cloud credits and mentorship to healthcare and fintech startups helping them harness the power of AI, Cloud and other digital technologies to meet current and future business needs.
Fintech Academy will help identify and train startups through a venture building program and will provide talent management support for business operations and project execution, with academic.
Pfizer will provide thought leadership to address barriers around affordability and accessibility through its established network with healthcare professionals and key opinion leaders.
“As Singapore continues to build for the future to maintain its competitive edge as the region’s innovation powerhouse, it is critical for local start-ups to take advantage of emerging technologies to drive transformation for the healthcare sector,” said Derek Wang, general manager of Alibaba Cloud in Singapore. “The ability to harness the collective resources that HFA is providing will help them make their mark on the global stage.”
Lillian Koh, founder of Fintech Academy said, the alliance will drive collaboration and scholarship among the finance, health, and digital technology sectors through the network.
“The formation of this Alliance is a clear demonstration of Pfizer’s commitment in Asia emerging markets to leverage synergies between cloud technology, financial capabilities and pharmaceutical expertise so as to be patient-centric in fulfilling healthcare needs.” said Enver Erkan, country manager of Pfizer Singapore.