Online Lending Platform Funding Societies raises US$294 million to accelerate its expansion plans in Southeast Asia

Funding Societies popularly known as Modalku in Indonesia an online lending platform for MSMEs has raised a total of US$294 million to fuel its expansion plans in Southeast Asia.

According to the company, it has raised US$144 million in an oversubscribed Series C+ equity round led by Japanese venture capital fund SoftBank Vision Fund 2 along with participation from new investors Rapyd Ventures, Vietnamese tech giant VNG Corporation, Indies Capital, Asia-based global investor EDBI, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, and K3 Ventures. It received US$150 million funding in debt lines from institutional lenders across Asia, Europe, and the US.

Co-founder and Group CEO of Funding Societies, Kelvin Teo said the company is honoured by the confidence of its new and existing shareholders. “We started Funding Societies | Modalku to empower SMEs by solving their biggest problem, access to financing, especially unsecured financing. A common misconception is that we compete with banks. The reality is we ‘compete’ with savings, friends and families, and personal credit cards. There is a huge unsecured financing gap because it takes patience and focus, or you risk losing a lot of money.”

He added, “Having proven our AI-led credit capabilities in an unprecedented financial crisis, we look to serve SMEs even better with neobanking and [a] deeper regional presence in Southeast Asia,”

Managing Partner at Softbank Investment Advisers, Greg Moon said, “Funding Societies is establishing a bridge for these companies to access more sustainable and cheaper financing by building unique data sets on their performance and using AI-led technology to assess their creditworthiness more effectively than traditional models. We are delighted to partner with Funding Societies to support their mission to improve societies in Southeast Asia by funding worthy and underserved SMEs.”

About Funding Societies

Founded in 2015 by Kelvin Teo and Reynold Wijaya, Funding Societies empowers MSMEs in Southeast Asia. It addresses the key pain points for growth for MSMEs, starting with the US$300 billion financing gap in the region.

The FinTech platform offers micro loans from US$500 to US$1.5 million that can be disbursed within 24 hours, suitable for small businesses looking to manage their cashflows.

The company also operates in four other countries besides Indonesia and has disbursed a total of US$2 billion in business financing to MSMEs through 5 million loan transactions to date.