Investree Philippines, a the fintech joint venture company of Filinvest Development Corporation and Investree Singapore, has received approval to operate the Philippines’ first licensed crowdfunding platform.
The approval is a first to any company since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its implementing rules and regulations in 2019. Investree Philippines aims to address the largely underserved $200+ billion MSME credit gap in the Philippines.
As the first-ever company to obtain this license in the country, Investree Philippines is gearing up to provide financing solutions to MSMEs in the Philippines and help them access capital to boost their growth.
Investree said it aims to do this by connecting SMEs and startups with institutional investors through its marketplace platform.
“We are proud to bring in the first licensed crowdfunding platform in the country and to contribute towards the further development of SMEs through Investree Philippines, especially now that we are working to reignite the economy. Aligned with Filinvest’s thrust of serving the underserved, we hope that this platform can open doors for more businesses and serve as a meaningful launchpad for growing their enterprise. We believe that Investree is a good channel for SMEs to tap in their drive towards reestablishing and growing their businesses and contributing to the country’s economic recovery and growth,” said Josephine Gotianun-Yap, President and CEO of FDC.
Investree Co-Founder & Regional CEO, Adrian Gunadi, further added, “Together with FDC, I am confident that Investree Philippines will be able to help increase financial inclusion in the Philippines. FDC’s robust ecosystem and their knowledge of the local market will help the process of connecting lenders and SMEs become more seamless. Working alongside them, we now have an operations and business model that ensures optimal service to support the growth of SMEs in the region.”
“SMEs are the backbone of our economy, contributing 35% of the country’s GDP and employing more than 60% of the local workforce, yet this segment remains underserved,” mentions Xavier Marzan, Managing Director of FDC’s venture and innovations arm f(dev), a wholly owned subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corporation, who spearheaded this initiative.
“With the support of FDC, Investree Philippines is harnessing the power of technology and data to develop and scale a robust risk scoring model that helps with the labor-intensive credit assessment processes that are experienced by traditional banking and lending institutions. We want to further innovate on this capability to financially include more businesses in the Philippines,” Marzan added.
The joint venture of Investree Philippines is 50% owned by Filinvest Development Corporation and 50% owned by Investree Singapore.
Investree was established in 2015 with a mission to support the growth of Indonesia’s underserved SMEs ecosystem. As a pioneer in fintech lending in Indonesia, Investree connects lenders who are open to lending their money with borrowers who need financing support to grow their businesses. – BusinessNewsAsia.com