Funding Societies crosses THB100 billion in SME lending regionally, doubles down with new products to bolster support for Thai SMEs’ needs
Funding Societies | Modalku, the largest SMEs digital financing platform in Southeast Asia, announced it has achieved THB100 billion (USD 3 billion) with more than 5 million business loans given to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region. Regionally, the company has financed almost 100,000 SMEs across its five markets. It continues to support underserved SMEs across five markets in the region via its extensive range of short-term financing products and solutions.
In its move to empower Thai SMEs to further achieve their business potential, Funding Societies will be expanding products and focus segments as it continues to grow its core business in lending in Thailand.
As the backbone of the economy, Thai SMEs represent a significant portion of the country’s GDP, making up 99% of all enterprises in Thailand, and equivalent to over 3.1 million businesses. However, the majority of these businesses face multiple challenges in obtaining financing, especially to meet short-term working capital requirements. These include a lack of collateral, arduous documentation requirements, and a lengthy approval process. This further restricts SMEs from accessing financing via traditional institutions like brick-and-mortar banks, and subsequently, contributed to the staggering SMEs financing gap of more than US$40 billion
(THB1.51 trillion).
“2022 was a big year for Funding Societies despite the uncertain macro environment. Committed to our mission to empower SMEs in Southeast Asia, we’ve raised our Series C+; scaled up in Thailand and Vietnam; deepened localized financing propositions; secured a $50 million credit line from a global commercial bank HSBC. Because SMEs’ needs extend beyond financing, we entered into payment and neo-banking verticals through our merger with CardUp and investment in Bank Index, a private commercial bank in Indonesia” said Kelvin Teo, Co-Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer of Funding Societies | Modalku.
“While there are macro headwinds this year, we are optimistic to continue growing sustainably, as we did in Covid-19. We will continue to stay nimble, innovate and scale up in financing, payments, financial services and more – catering to various pain points our SMEs face,” Teo added.
As part of its efforts to provide more products and solutions for SMEs, Funding Societies invested in Indonesia’s Bank Index in 2022, further strengthening its position within the neobanking space. This is especially significant as Funding Societies became one of the first fintech SMEs lenders in the region to invest in a bank.
Welcoming CardUp – part of the move into becoming a unified digital finance platform Another significant milestone was the acquisition of CardUp, a digital payments platform. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) granted its approval for the acquisition in November 2022. Both FinTech’s are collaborating to bring a unified digital finance experience to SMEs regionally.
The acquisition is part of the company’s move to expand into its newly-established payments vertical following the launch of Elevate, a business expense solution that comes with a credit line – currently available in Singapore. This solution will be introduced in Thailand in 2024.
Remarking on the local milestone achievement in Thailand, Chatchakorn Pruksananont, Head of Commercial said, “We have been supporting Thai SMEs since our launch in 2021. Our financing has helped these businesses buy materials, complete projects and mitigate long credit terms. To better serve their needs this year, we have introduced Purchase Order (PO) Financing to address the specific needs of SMEs. Manufacturers or traders can simply submit eligible purchase orders for Funding Societies to pay directly to their suppliers. This allows SMEs to acquire stocks and fulfil orders with no out-of-pocket expense required. This is in-line
with our commitment to support Thai SMEs across their business lifecycle.”
“Last year, our Thai team served SMEs across sizes and sectors in Thailand and crossed a milestone of THB 1 billion in loan disbursements. This year, we will grow significantly by addressing the specific needs of small manufacturers, traders and logistic providers, Pruksananont added.
Funding Societies' business in Thailand is rapidly growing along with its team, as they look to expand their overall headcount in multiple departments including credit, sales, operations and business development.
For Thai SMEs and investors who are interested to find out more about Funding Societies, please visit https://fundingsocieties.co.th/
