UOB joins crowd-funding platform OurCrowd

The move pairs the bank’s strengths and depth of experience in serving entrepreneurs as well as small and medium-sized enterprises across the region with OurCrowd’s expertise in investing in some of the world’s most promising start-ups through equity crowd-funding.
The collaboration will see UOB making a US$10-million (Bt350 million) investment in OurCrowd.
The accredited investors among UOB’s clients will now have an opportunity to broaden their investments into OurCrowd’s portfolio companies.
Through this collaboration, innovative Asian companies with differentiated and highly scalable technology products and services will now get access to another source of funding through OurCrowd’s equity crowd-funding platform.
Through equity crowd-funding, they can seek relatively small investments from a large number of investors in return for equity or shares in their start-up company. It provides them with the funding needed to develop their concepts, products and services into viable business models.
Moreover, they can also tap into OurCrowd’s global investor network to jump-start their international expansion and business development.
Janet Young, head of group channels and digitisation at UOB, said that as Singapore’s largest SME bank with an extensive regional network, UOB had deep experience from its long-standing support of entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs.
This collaboration with OurCrowd is a natural extension of its interest in nurturing the growth of small businesses.
“SMEs are the foundation of Asian economies, providing high levels of employment. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to obtain financing, particularly equity financing, in the early stages of growth. Because of this, UOB has partnered with OurCrowd to connect smart ideas with smart money,” she said.
This collaboration is Israel-based OurCrowd’s first foray into Southeast Asia and represents a significant step towards developing the financial-technology ecosystem in the region.
OurCrowd founder and chief executive officer Jon Medved said the UOB-OurCrowd collaboration represented a huge step forward for OurCrowd and the Asian tech ecosystem.
“Together, we will empower scores of new entrepreneurs and match them with global investors and mentor networks. The beauty of crowd-funding OurCrowd style is that the investor in Asia can now access quality deal flows in Israel, Silicon Valley and beyond, while a Singapore entrepreneur can easily gain top-notch global backing.”