WeLab
“Can a Hong Kong virtual bank become the AI-first pan-Asian digital banking platform for retail consumers?”
Founded2013
HQHong Kong
FoundersSimon Loong, Kelly Wong, Frances Kang
Latest roundSeries D, 2026 (announced Jan 2026)
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
Founded 2013 as WeLend, an online consumer credit platform in Hong Kong. Expanded into mainland China (Wolaidai) and Indonesia, becoming a pan-Asian consumer lender. In 2020 leveled up by launching WeLab Bank — a fully digital licensed virtual bank in Hong Kong powered by Temenos on multi-cloud AWS/Google Cloud. Currently pivoting toward an AI-first banking model via partnerships with Google and HKIC, expanding product breadth (multi-currency debit cards, BNPL like Subscribe+ for Apple) while accelerating Southeast Asia expansion funded by the 2026 $220M Series D.
Product timeline
2013
Founded in Hong Kong; launched WeLend, HK's first online consumer credit lending platform· lending
2014
Expanded into mainland China with Wolaidai (我来贷)· lending
2018
Expanded into Indonesia· lending
2020
Launched WeLab Bank, one of HK's first virtual banks, on Temenos Transact multi-cloud core (AWS + Google Cloud)· banking
2025
Strategic partnership with Hong Kong Investment Corporation for AI-driven fintech· pivot
2026
Launched WeLab Global Wallet multi-currency Mastercard debit card (HK first)· card
2026
Closed $220M Series D — largest digital banking raise in Asia 2025· pivot
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by WeLab
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
6 layers disclosed in WeLab’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
WeLab Bank (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Ledger
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
FX & payouts
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
8 more providers across 5 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.