The Singapore-based digital peer-to-peer lending platform has inked a deal with Lazada to offer SME financing in Malaysia.
Funding Societies has entered into a partnership with Lazada Malaysia to offers merchants on the e-commerce marketplace short-term financing, Malaysian newspaper «The Star» reported on Thursday.
As part of the tie-up, the peer-to-peer lending platform will leverage alternative data from Lazada as part of its risk assessment, which will provide more opportunities for online businesses to get tailor-made financing products conveniently, the firm said in a joint press statement.
The company's co-founder and chief executive officer, Wong Kah Meng, said to «The Star» that he hopes the partnership will address the difficulties faced by e-commerce traders, who are often neglected by traditional financial institutions, in securing financing.
P2P Lending Growth
Fintechs and traditional banks alike have been trying to use technology and data to provide more accurate and faster loan financing to small businesses in Southeast Asia, where they comprise almost 99 percent of the region's economy. In recent months, UOB, DBS, and HPB Lendscape have all announced initiatives to facilitate SME loan financing.
Funding Societies uses its platform to provide business owners access to funding from individual as well as institutional investors. According to the firm's website, it has financed over 100,000 business loans totaling over S$687 million regionally since it was founded in 2015.
The firm is licensed to operate in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, and supported by Sequoia India, Alpha JWC Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.
