Funds to be funneled toward 2020 Thailand expansion plans
Validus, a Singapore-based financing platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has secured a total of $20 million in capital commitments in its ongoing Series B+ round (with $14 million raised successfully), the startup announced in a statement today.
Vertex’s affiliate venture capital fund Vertex Growth Fund and Kuok Group’s venture capital arm Orion Fund acted as the lead investors for the round.
“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 Validus is well-positioned to meaningfully address the SME financing gap,” Managing Director at Vertex Growth, James Lee said in the statement.
The round also included participation from Validus’ existings backers Dutch development bank FMO, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Singapore-based venture capital fund Openspace Ventures, Siam Cement Group’s corporate venture arm AddVentures and Vietnam-based venture fund VinaCapital Ventures.
The capital will be directed towards investments in Validus’ technology and innovation capacities, strengthening its existing market position, and funding a new venture in Thailand scheduled for this year’s fourth quarter.
Validus channels funds from high net worth individuals and institutional investors to SMEs using data and artificial intelligence. In addition to being Singapore’s largest SME financier, the 2015-founded startup launched in Vietnam as Validus Vietnam and in Indonesia as Batumbu last year, the statement said.
Since obtaining its Capital Markets Services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2017, Validus provided $315 million over 15,000 loans, the statement noted.
In February last year, the fintech startup raised around $15 million (SGD 20.5 million) in a Series B financing round. Combined with the fresh capital and earlier venture and angel rounds, Validus’ total funding is just shy of the $40 million mark.
“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,” Validus Co-founder Nikhilesh Goel said in the statement.
He also commended the Government of Singapore for its COVID-19 related SME relief measures.
According to a study conducted by the startup earlier last year, SMEs that were financed through the Validus platform saw a 17% increase in annual revenues in 2018, and employment growth at 12 times the national average for businesses in Singapore.
The study also pointed out that the Gross Domestic Product contribution from Validus-supported SMEs also grew 18%, compared to an average of 5% from overall contributions by Singapore businesses.
Header image courtesy of Validus
