omniture

AsiaCollect raises USD4.5 million after recent investment round led by global technology investment firm SIG Asia Investments

2018-07-05 09:00 1610
  • AsiaCollect aims to automate and streamline consumer debt collection in Southeast Asia through a more efficient, technology-driven, and customer-oriented collections strategy 
  • New capital from SIG Asia Investments and Dymon Asia Ventures will be used to support growth initiatives; including client acquisition, technology enhancements, collections infrastructure and team expansion, and purchasing non-performing consumer loans (NPL) portfolios

SINGAPORE, July 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AsiaCollect, a pioneer in providing integrated Credit Management Services (CMS) in Southeast Asia, has raised USD4.5 million after closing its recent investment round led by global technology investment firm SIG Asia Investments

Dymon Asia Ventures, the venture capital arm of Dymon Asia Capital, a Singapore-based alternative investment management firm, returned to co-invest in this round after investing USD1 million in AsiaCollect's pre-series A equity round in August last year. 

AsiaCollect delivers maximum CMS efficiency for its clients through an integrated product offering, which includes CMS OutsourcingCMS Advisory ServicesDebt Purchasing, and Software-As-A-Service (SaaS).The company's proprietary technology streamlines and automates a majority of debt collection processes, while minimising the need for field collection, which has traditionally been associated with high reputational risk for lenders and a distressing experience for consumers.

Mr. Tomasz Borowski, chief executive officer and co-founder of AsiaCollect, said, "We are thrilled to have SIG on board as they have a unique track record of picking winners in financial services. As we move into the purchasing segment of the value chain, we are increasingly attracting significant investor interest, both from an equity and debt standpoint. Moreover, investors view the debt collections business as a classic counter-cyclical play, which is becoming increasingly important as we move into what looks like the peak of this cycle."

"Over the medium to long-term, purchasing NPL portfolios off banks' balance sheets is likely to be a major driver of revenue growth for AsiaCollect. We have already purchased our first portfolio from a large financial institution in Vietnam, and we are focused on executing on many more such transactions going forward. We are supported by a highly experienced data science team in Ukraine who brings with them strong knowledge and expertise in pricing portfolios through business cycles. We will continue to leverage this and differentiate ourselves in a market where there is a dearth of professional debt collectors and purchasers and that is dominated by fly-by-night operators," added Mr. Tomasz Borowski

AsiaCollect will use the new funds to support growth initiatives, including client acquisition in its core markets, enhancements to its SaaS solution, expansion of its collections' infrastructure and teams, and to continue purchasing NPL portfolios. AsiaCollect has seen sustained and rapid growth since its 2016 launch and is currently managing over USD40 million in assets of over 10 financial institutions and digital lenders across Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The company estimates that there will be over $45 billion of consumer NPLs[1] generated in its core markets of Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines in the next five years.

AsiaCollect currently helps bank and non-bank lenders recover their NPLs by reaching out to customers through automated SMSs, interactive voice recordings, and predictive dialing systems. The aim is to increase not only the likelihood of reaching the customer but also the recovery rates for each targeted customer by employing psychometric analysis that allows operators to communicative effectively with different personality types. In addition to carrying out collections on behalf of lenders, AsiaCollect also licenses its technology using a SaaS model and provides bespoke advice for clients with nascent in-house collections processes.

Led by an international leadership team with decades of experience in CMS and consumer finance in emerging markets, AsiaCollect secured its seed capital from FORUM, the largest fintech venture builder in Emerging Asia, and Fintonia Group, a leading early-stage fintech investor in Southeast Asia.  

[1]AsiaCollect in-house research

About AsiaCollect

AsiaCollect is a pioneer in providing integrated world-class Credit Management Services (CMS) in Southeast Asia. Focused on the $40 billion growth opportunity in non-performing consumer loans, AsiaCollect delivers maximum CMS efficiency for its clients through an integrated product offering, which includes CMS OutsourcingCMS Advisory ServicesDebt Purchasing, and Software-As-A-Service (SaaS). AsiaCollect ensures that every debt solution reaches an optimal outcome for debtor as well as creditor, and operates on a world-class Code of Ethics, backed by a stringent set of operational risk control processes. Headquartered in Singapore, the Company is active in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. AsiaCollect was seeded and developed by FORUM, the largest fintech venture builder in Emerging Asia.

About SIG 

Headquartered in the US, SIG is a global technology investment firm founded with an entrepreneurial mindset and a rigorous analytical approach to decision making. Over the past 30 years, SIG's business thrives at the intersection of trading, quantitative research, and technology and employs over 1,600 globally. SIG invests across the continuum of the venture capital life-cycle, from early to late stage and in a variety of industry sectors. For more information, please see http://www.sig-china.com.

About FORUM 

FORUM is the largest fintech venture builder in Emerging Asia, focused on the $500 billion growth opportunity in the consumer lending vertical. FORUM identifies unique market segments for rapid value creation and build market-leading companies for capital gain. FORUM is currently developing four companies across Asia: CredoLab, AsiaCollect, SolarHome and AsiaKredit.  The company is headquartered in Singapore and led by founder and CEO Greg Krasnov.

Media Contact 
Keshia de Vries, PR Manager, FORUM
Mobile: +65 9479 2366 
Email: kdevries@forum-cap.com

Source: AsiaCollect
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