Validus, Singapore’s based SME financing platform that is also present in Vietnam and Indonesia, has successfully raised over US$14 million, with US$20 million in committed capital in its ongoing Series B+ funding round co-led by Vertex Growth Fund (Vertex Growth) and Kuok Group’s Orion Fund managed by K3 Venture Partners.
They join Validus’ stable of highly reputed investors, including FMO (Netherlands’ public-private development bank), Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Openspace Ventures, Thailand’s AddVentures (Siam Cement Group) and Vietnam’s VinaCapital Ventures who return to fund and support the company in this latest round.
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Singapore, Validus brings together accredited and institutional investors and SMEs. It obtained its CMS license from MAS in December 2017. Since then, Validus has expanded into Vietnam and Indonesia, and has successfully topped US$315 million in business funding – a record for online SME financing platforms in Singapore.
With fresh funding, Validus will continue to invest heavily in technology and innovation, and solidify its position in the three ASEAN countries it’s present in. It will also fund the upcoming new venture in Thailand slated for Q4 2020.
“Fintechs with a robust platform and resilient leadership, who are able to survive and thrive in these unprecedented times will be leaders of tomorrow. We are grateful and honoured by the vote of confidence from our Investors,” said Nikhilesh Goel, Co-founder of Validus. “We’d also like to commend the Government for the extensive SME relief measures designed to help businesses tide over these trying times, as well as our corporate partners whom we’re working closely with to further support SMEs and help to bolster their frontline responses to the pandemic.”
“The industry is crossing an inflection point where demand for SME growth financing and cash flow management is increasing exponentially, and we are confident that the Validus is well-positioned to meaningfully address the SME financing gap as they continue their prudent approach to growth during this period,” added James Lee, Managing Director, Vertex Growth.
“We are highly impressed by the leadership and depth of credit management experience at Validus. The team has demonstrated the unique ability to capture critical data points, combined with comprehensive machine learning capabilities, to identify high-potential SMEs that may have fallen through the gaps of the traditional banking model,” shared MX Kuok of K3 Ventures.
Based on a study from Validus’ Economic Impact Report conducted in November last year, over 300,000 Singaporeans had directly or indirectly benefited from Validus’ SME financing platform. SMEs that obtained financing from the platform experienced a 17 per cent increase in their annual revenue in 2018. GDP contribution from Validus-supported SMEs grew by 18 per cent, while the overall GDP contribution by Singapore’s businesses of 5 per cent in the same year. SMEs that obtained financing from Validus also experienced robust employment growth of 12 per cent as compared to 1 per cent the overall employment growth of Singapore’s businesses.
To address the SME financing gap regionally, Validus launched its Indonesian entity, Batumbu, and Vietnam entity, Validus Vietnam, last May and November respectively to help drive business financing for this sector in the region.
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