SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 12 July2018 -Bambu, a leading global provider of robo-advisory technology, today announcedit has completed a USD 3 million Series A funding led by Franklin TempletonInvestments, with Singapore family office Octava and prominent Japanese Fintechinvestor Mamoru Taniya also joining the round.

Theyear 2018 has already become a marquee year for the two-year-old startup,signing clients in both North and South America as well as across Asia, andnewly opened offices in London and Kuala Lumpur. Bambu also continues itscommitment to its proprietary A.I. research and solutions, with further hiresand completion of the team's first research publication.

"Weare incredibly grateful for the support of all our existing and new investorsand customers in helping us to build a leading global robo-advisory technologycompany. Early this year we already surpassed the growth targets we had set for2018, with seven new clients preparing to go live between the Asian and U.S.markets. This proves our B2B business model is working, as there is real globalscalability without large capital requirements. Our next ambitious goal is toget a million end users on the platform by 2019," Bambu CEO and founder NedPhillips said in a statement.

"Sinceour initial investment in 2017, the Bambu team has shown its ability to driveconstant innovation in the digital wealth management space. This makes Bambu agreat long-term partner for us, and we are excited to continue our support ofthe team and their global expansion efforts," Harshendu Bindal, ManagingDirector, Head of Retail at Franklin Templeton Investments, commented.

Bambuhas recently grown to a team of 33 members, mostly based in their Singaporeheadquarters, and with offices in Malaysia, Hong Kong and London. 

ABOUTBAMBU

Bambu is a leading globalprovider of robo-advisory technology for businesses of every size and industry,from finance to commercial or even new disruptors, transforming the digitalwealth market. We enable companies to make saving and investing simple and intelligentfor their clients. The cloud-based platform is powered by our proprietaryalgorithms and machine learning tools.

Founded in 2016 by industryexperts Ned Phillips and Aki Ranin, Bambu is situated in Singapore withsubsidiaries in Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United Kingdom, as well asrepresentatives in Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

Formore information, please visit www.bambu.life.      

ABOUT FRANKLIN TEMPLETON INVESTMENTS

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is aglobal investment management organization operating as Franklin TempletonInvestments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domesticinvestment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients inover 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the company has expertise acrossall asset classes--including equity, fixed income, alternative and customsolutions. The company's more than 650 investment professionals are supportedby its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and globaltrading desk network. With offices in more than 30 countries, theCalifornia-based company has 70 years of investment experience and over $724billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2018.

For more information, please visit www.franklinresources.com