Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/WeLab

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep‎. (non-admin closure) Alpha3031 (t • c) 14:18, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

WeLab

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Fails WPNCORP, GNG. Poor and not-independent sources BoraVoro (talk) 06:49, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.
1. Cohan, Peter S. (2018). Startup Cities: Why Only a Few Cities Dominate the Global Startup Scene and What the Rest Should Do About It. New York: Apress. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-4842-3392-4. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
  The book notes: "Two Hong Kong gazelles are the Uber-for-delivery-vans-service GogoVan and WeLab, which operates a personal lending platform. ... whereas WeLab's ascent appears to have been smoother sailing."
  The book notes: "WeLab's story is less dramatic but another great example of a gazelle becoming a unicorn. Cofounder and CEO Simon Loong started WeLab in 2013 after over 15 years in the banking sector. ... In 2013, he founded WeLab, a mobile lending platform that uses risk-testing technology to conduct credit assessments in seconds and enables customers to borrow money with a few taps of their smartphones. Now valued at more than $1 billion, it was Hong Kong's first tech unicorn and its WeLend leading online lending platform has sourced more than “$154 million in loan applications and 16,000 members.” By January 2016, WeLab had loaned money to 2.5 million customers, the majority in mainland China. That month WeLab raised a $160 million Series B from Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia's strategic investment fund, with participation from ING Bank and Guangdong Technology Financial Group, which is run by the Chinese government, leading to total funding of $182 million."
2. Leung, Grace L K (2019). Innovative and Creative Industries in Hong Kong: A Global City in China and Asia. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-06849-0. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
  The book notes: "WeLab: founded in 2013, WeLab is reinventing traditional financial services by creating seamless mobile lending experiences. WeLab effectively analyzes unstructured mobile big data within seconds to make credit decisions for individual borrowers. WeLab operates Wolaidai, one of China's leading mobile lending platforms, and WeLend, Hong Kong's leading online lending platform. The company also partners with traditional financial institutions, which utilize WeLab's technology to offer Fintech-enabled solutions to their customers. WeLab did 6 rounds of funding exercises and raised a total of US$425 million. Her investors include CK Hutchison's TOM Group, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, ING Bank, Sequoia Capital and Chinese provincial government fund: Guangdong Technology Financial Group. In 2016, WeLab was ranked in a KPMG-sponsored report as one of the top 100 Fintech companies in the world – sixth in China and 33rd globally."
3. Fannin, Rebecca A. (2019). Tech Titans of China: How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging the World by Innovating Faster, Working Harder & Going Global. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-52937-451-3. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
  The book has a section titled "AI at Work in Fintech: WebLab". The book notes: "An example of AI disrupting traditional banking comes from Hong Kong-based fintech startup WeLab, which provides small consumer loans in an online instant, with fewer than average defaults by relying on AI and data to determine creditworthiness. WeLab technology combs through online data such as bill payment records and social media profiles to figure out which potential borrowers are likely to pay their loans on time. Then it prices and tailors online consumer loans. Consumers complete the entire lending process over their smartphone and don't need an established credit history—an issue among young people starting in their careers. Loan decisions for individual borrowers are made online within seconds. One hint: don't fill out the online form in all capital letters. WeLab has found applicants who write in upper case are not good credit risks. A technology team of more than 210 engineers and data scientists have ..."
4. Mohan, Devie (2020). The Financial Services Guide to Fintech: Driving Banking Innovation Through Effective Partnerships. London: Kogan Page. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-78966-106-4. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
  The book notes: "WeLab is a Hong Kong start-up that was founded in 2013, and which became the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the country. WeLab enables users to borrow money as personal loans from other indi- viduals while delivering lower interest rates than traditional banks. WeLab makes this process as easy as possible, with an online application form and relatively short assessment process being the only barriers to accessing credit. One of the fascinating initiatives implemented by WeLab is Wolaidai, a mobile peer-to-peer lending platform for top-tier university students in China. With the founder of WeLab, Simon Loong, having experience in the commercial banking industry at Citibank and Standard Chartered, this fintech solution draws on experts in the traditional financial system, while taking on some of its biggest proponents. We will undoubtedly see more of this in the years to come."
5. Rubini, Agustín (2019). Fintech in a Flash: Financial Technology Made Easy. Boston: De Gruyter. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-5474-1716-2. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
  The book notes: "Founded in 2013, WeLab is a Hong Kong-based internet finance company that uses exclusive risk management technology to analyze Big Data and offer reliable credit services to individual borrowers in the Asian market. WeLab operates two leading online lending platforms, Wolaidai in China and WeLend in Hong Kong, seeking to offer its customers a seamless mobile lending experience. Furthermore, the company has partnerships with traditional financial institutions, which use WeLab's sophisticated credit risk management tools to use Big Data analytics and offer their customers advanced fintech solutions. In January, WeLab raised $160 million in Series B funding from domestic and international investors, including Khazanah Nasional Berhad wealth fund, ING Bank, and state-owned Guangdong Technology Financial Group (GTFG). This was the first time that funds were raised by a Chinese fintech firm and one of the first times that an international financial institution (ING) financed a leading Chinese fintech player."
6. Less significant coverage:
  1. Lo, John Y. (2016). Angel Financing in Asia Pacific: A Guidebook for Investors and Entrepreneurs. Bingley, West Yorkshire: Emerald Group Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-78635-128-9. Retrieved 2024-05-27 – via Google Books.
    The book notes: "There appears to be a consensus that the startup scene in Hong Kong has taken a quantum jump in the last five years. A major breakthrough in January 2016 is probably the announcement of the receipt of US$160 million investment in a Series B financing by WeLab. This is a local fintech startup that specializes in peer-to-peer lending technology and operates both in Hong Kong and mainland China. While not publicly disclosed, the valuation of the company has been estimated to be near US$1 billion, qualifying it as the first unicorn24 from Hong Kong."
  2. Gough, Neil (2014-06-16). "Start-Up WeLab Raises $14 Million From Sequoia Capital and Hong Kong Tycoon". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
    The article notes: "WeLab Holdings, an Internet finance start-up in Hong Kong, said on Monday that it had raised $14 million from Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, and Sequoia Capital, a stalwart of Silicon Valley."
There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow WeLab to pass Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies)#Primary criteria, which requires "significant coverage in multiple reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject".
Cunard (talk) 08:09, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

On top of the sources found by @Cunard I'd add:

Financial Times article profiling the company. This is an earned media feature article, not an interview.
Forbes with a short market report (which I suspect was leaked by Loong)
Forbes again with a feature on the company. This one is a nice profile but clearly based on an interview with Loong.

Keep This is a major fintech player in Asia Pacific, and although WeLend has its own article this is the parent that also includes Mainland platform Wolaidai as well as a bank in Indonesia I think. There are other bits and pieces out there, at the paragraph scale similar to those found by Cunard, but I think the FT piece along with the Forbes 2022 piece should be enough. Oblivy (talk) 10:23, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Finance, Companies, and Hong Kong. WCQuidditch ☎ ✎ 16:15, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: Clean up is not deletion. Per se, the sources are significantly impactful for the article. Safari Scribe^{Edits! Talk!} 12:00, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.