SINGAPORE, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeast Asia's largest SME digital financing platform, Funding Societies (also known as Modalku in Indonesia), today announced that Samsung Venture Investment Corporation has invested in its latest funding round. This comes on the back of earlier investments from Sequoia India, Softbank Ventures Asia Corp, SG Innovate, BRI Ventures, Qualgro Partners and Endeavor amongst others. Additionally, the platform has raised credit lines from Asian and European financial institutions to further support small and medium-sized enterprises. Funding Societies and Samsung Ventures, along with Samsung Life Insurance Co., will create a strategic alliance to introduce prospective partnerships and collaborations.
(Left to right): Kelvin Teo, Co-founder & Group CEO; Reynold Wijaya, Co-founder
Samsung Venture is an investment arm of the South Korean conglomerate, Samsung Group, investing in companies focused on IT, semiconductors, software, internet services, biotechnology, and more. They have invested in many firms such as FinTech firm M-DAQ in Singapore, food delivery platform Swiggy in India and artificial intelligence firm Cogent Labs in Japan, to name a few. "Samsung Ventures is focused on investing in companies at the forefront of innovative technology. Funding Societies' digital financing solutions effectively bridge the SME credit gap in Southeast Asia and we are confident that they will continue to lead the region's digital lending industry and finance the future of these economies," said a representative from the tech giant.
The local financial technology ("FinTech") company intends to expand its technology team across the region to tap on the best of the tech and data talent available. The funds raised will also be channeled towards developing the firm's strategic and new business models in its next stage of evolution, driving its vision of financial inclusion for SMEs in Southeast Asia.
Funding Societies, which was founded by Kelvin Teo and Reynold Wijaya in 2015, is an SME digital financing platform that connects SMEs in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia with retail and institutional lenders. As of November 2020, it has given out more than SGD$1.8 billion across 3.3 million loans. The platform has also increased its individual lender base to 200,000 in just over 5 years of operation.
According to the SME Finance Forum, there is a US$320 billion SME financing gap in Southeast Asia today. This accounts for 42% of the GDP of the region, reveals another Deloitte study. Funding Societies addresses this gap through technology by providing fast, customised, and flexible funding for the growth of local SMEs.
"We are honoured to work with Samsung as an investor, as we find them a strategic and collaborative partner, in our journey to enable growth for SMEs and create wealth for lenders. We will continue to strive to be a digital finance provider of choice and to make a positive impact in our home countries across Southeast Asia," said Kelvin Teo, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku.
Recently, FS Capital (part of the Funding Societies Group) was amongst the first FinTechs to be included as a Participating Financial Institution (PFI) in Enterprise Singapore (ESG)'s Enterprise Financing Scheme. The SME lender also received exemption from Singapore's Ministry of Law to provide loans to sole proprietors. Additionally, earlier this year, Funding Societies received a tax exemption whereby interest returns for its platform investors will not be taxable from 2020 onwards.
About Funding Societies
Funding Societies | Modalku is the largest SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia. It is licensed in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and backed by Sequoia India and Softbank Ventures Asia Corp amongst many others. It provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is crowdfunded by individual and institutional investors. In 5 years, it has helped finance over 3.3 million business loans with over S$1.8 billion in funding. It was given the MAS FinTech Award in 2016, the Global SME Excellence Award at the United Nations' ITU Telecom World in 2017, Brands for Good in 2019, recognised by IDC as amongst the 5 fastest growing FinTechs in Singapore, and the Stevie® Award in 2020.
Media Contact
Glennice Yong
Senior PR & Communications Executive
Funding Societies
glennice.yong@fundingsocieties.com
+65 9155 4662
![[L-R] Harish Venkatesan, Head of Corporates and Business Banking, HSBC Singapore; Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and Group CEO, Funding Societies](https://mma.prnasia.com/media2/2548023/L_R__Harish_Venkatesan_Head_Corporates_Business_Banking_HSBC_Singapore__Kelvin.jpg?p=medium600)
