ShareInvestor to Merge With Investing Note, Valuation Amounts to SGD 30M

Singapore's largest independent platform for investor relations, market data tools, and investor education, Investing Note Pte. Ltd., a fast-growing and profitable community-driven platform serving young retail investors since 2014, announced its merger today. ShareInvestor is a well-known brand with a 22-year track record of success. The merger terms value the combined Group at more than S$30 million.

InvestingNote is well-known for its large following of Gen Y and Gen Z investors, thanks in part to its CEO, Shanison Lin Xinshan, who is a Millennial himself and understands the younger generation's life aspirations, immersion in the digital world, and financial goals.

Shanison's belief that financial literacy should be enjoyable and profitable has propelled Investing Note to become Singapore and Malaysia's largest social network for young retail investors. Advertisers, sponsors, key opinion leaders, and brokerages have recognised the value of partnering with Investing Note to engage its subscriber base of young and enthusiastic investors.

Shanison joined ShareInvestor as a software engineer after graduating from [NUS] in 2009 with a Bachelor of Information Technology on a Ministry of Education (MOE) scholarship, and stayed until 2014 when he left to start InvestingNote. In 2015, ShareInvestor invested a total of 15% in the startup, which was later increased to 32% by ShareInvestor and two of its senior management. ShareInvestor's senior management has provided strategic guidance to InvestingNote over the years, and the two companies' synergy has resulted in numerous successful project collaborations.

Mr Christopher Lee, CEO, ShareInvestor Group said: “The merger with InvestingNote is a natural progression for ShareInvestor given our long and synergistic relationship. It makes us even more attractive as a one-stop platform for advertisers, sponsors, key opinion leaders, brokerages and other financial intermediaries to forge win-win business partnerships with us. The merger also brings on board new talents and technologies and positions ShareInvestor as a future-ready financial intermediary for both traditional and digital assets.”

Mr Shanison Lin Xinshan, Founder of InvestingNote, said: “This is a pivotal moment for us as we mark the beginning of the next phase of growth. ShareInvestor has always been our shareholder and close partner since the early days of InvestingNote. I am super excited about starting this new journey together!”

Commenting on the merger, Mr Chan Kum Kong, Head of Research and FinLit, Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) said, “With the rise of a younger generation of tech-savvy investors, there is a need for high quality information and innovative solutions for online communities to hone their investment skills. The merger between ShareInvestor and InvestingNote will combine talents and capabilities of both platforms and broaden their reach to investors in the region. We look forward to the merged entity bringing added vibrancy to Singapore’s retail investing landscape.”

Mr Greg Baker, CEO of TD Ameritrade Singapore, said, “Knowledge is an investor’s best asset, and young investors know this. They place a high value on credible insights that can help them make smarter investment choices, in their pursuit of financial well-being. We have worked with ShareInvestor for over a decade and look forward to furthering our collaboration with the enlarged entity to make investor education readily accessible to all.”

Mr Gavin Chia, Managing Director, Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd. said, “We have a symbiotic relationship with ShareInvestor and InvestingNote. In today’s increasingly complex financial markets, investor education is of utmost importance for informed decision making. The ShareInvestor Group’s services and its footprint in the Southeast Asia region will serve us well as we venture into these markets.”

Mr Christopher Lee concluded: “The Group’s enhanced talent and technology resources, together with its growing footprint in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, give us confidence that we can be the leading regional financial intermediary, riding on the promising economic outlook for the ASEAN markets.”