Spark Systems wants to build a forex exchange marketplace in Singapore which would localise deal flow and cut costs

SGX

Spark Systems, a Singaporean startup that wants to facilitate faster and more affordable Forex trading, has launched with a bang — announcing via the The Straits Times a S$7.1 million (US$5 million) funding round a few weeks after officially opening its offices at the fintech hub Lattice80.

The startup has an ambitious long-term goal — build a Forex exchange marketplace that can compete on a global scale. While the city has individual platforms, they are not unified and can be expensive.

CEO Wong Joo Seng, who is a partner at Vickers Venture Partners, explained to The Straits Times that his company will pursue a strategy of creating private platforms with hedge funds and bankers and then link them together to create a network.

This, he said, would help lower the costs given to the market operator and make forex trading more affordable.

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Localising forex trading in Singapore is important because usually deals flow through London or Tokyo. Trading via these centers adds precious milliseconds to the transaction time, which The Straits Times pointed out can be expensive.

Also, the price of the deal may have already expired, which increases the likelihood the trade will be rejected.

Sparks Systems believes the localisation will help the company process trades with quickness and affordability.

The startup is still working to bring its product to market and plans to do so by the middle of 2017.

The Founding team has its history in the financial sector. The COO Jason Wang Kee Huat was formerly the Head of Institutional Sales at KGI Ong Capital and CTO Tingsong Ye built a trading algorithm for the hedge fund Pine River Capital Management.

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The company also received a grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

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