The mountains in Malaysia's Islamic fintech landscape

More: CEO Forrest Li’s memo to Sea Group staff and TikTok’s student program in Singapore. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Daily Newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only Daily Newsletter and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - [Malaysia’s Islamic fintech scene: fool’s gold?]( - Grab gets surprised by a fine in the Philippines - Other newsy highlights such as CEO Forrest Li’s memo to Sea Group staff and TikTok’s student-special initiative in Singapore. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} When you have eggs, flour, sugar, and an oven, you should be able to make a cake. But that’s not always the case, as I found out reading my colleague Emmanuel’s piece on Islamic fintech in Malaysia. Muslims make up 65% of the population in Malaysia, and the country has 294 fintech firms. But apparently, only 5% of them cater to Islamic fintech. That seems like a lost opportunity, a gold mine that hasn’t been tapped into. Today’s story pick gives us the lay of the land and charts out the biggest obstacles for Islamic fintech in Malaysia. 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[Grab ‘surprised’ by $160k fine in PH over user reimbursement failure]( From November 2019 to October 2020, the Philippine Competition Commission issued three separate orders requiring Grab to refund US$436,000 to customers. [East Ventures closes $250m fund for portfolio firms]( East Ventures said that 60% of its growth-stage portfolio companies have positive EBITDA or a clear path to it. ---------------------------------------------------------------  LISTICLE OF THE DAY [India’s top-funded tech companies in the last decade]( Which Indian tech players are on the rise? Our automated tracker spotlights their investment hauls in the last 10 years. ---------------------------------------------------------------  PRESS PEEKS The following press releases were published as they were received, without any editing from the Tech in Asia team. You too can publish your own press release on Tech in Asia by simply filling in [this form](. 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