Lattice80, a Singapore-based finance technology hub, is all set to open an office in India by the end of next month. This move marks the first step in a global expansion plan of the company that will spread to London, New York and the Middle East.
Reports suggest that the company is in discussions with around 30 tenants for the 30,000 sq.ft space in Visakhapatnam, about 800 kilometres from Bengaluru.
The location choice of the firm is interesting given that Bengaluru is considered the heart of India’s tech scene. Lattice80 may have chosen to set up in Visakhapatnam to escape higher rental costs in Bangalore.
Joe Seunghyun Cho, CEO of the company, said:
While it is difficult to find good engineers for tech startups globally, there are millions of them in India. The pool is strong and deep, and labor costs are low. The country is one of the best places to build tech resources.
As said, the company plans to open an office in the Middle East this year, then branches in London, New York and Silicon Valley in 2018. The company is also in talks to with other Asian cities, including Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok and Ulaanbaatar.
Lattice80 claims to be the world’s biggest fintech hub, providing office space and infrastructure to 85 start-ups in Singapore. Space also houses the Singapore office of R3, the consortium of global financial firms developing blockchain applications.
The firm is funded by Marvelstone Group, which is also headed by Joe Seunghyun Cho and invests in other fin-tech companies. Some of the firms that will be working out of the new India offices in Visakhapatnam already have bases in Singapore, such as robo-advisers Bambu and Smartfolios as well as women-centric online bank Miss Kaya.
The planned expansion into India seems like a move to take advantage of the country’s huge IT talent pool. India regularly supplies highly skilled technology workers to the rest of the world. However, India isn’t exactly well known for being a fin-tech hub, unlike Singapore, so startups might find it hard going in the country.