Crowdfunding

Fintech Startup Of The Month: Equity & Loan Crowdfunding Platform FundedHere

Based in Singapore, FundedHere is an equity and lending-based crowdfunding platform that connects investors with promising startups in Asia looking to raise between S$100,000 and S$1 million.

Founded in 2015, FundedHere aims at helping good entrepreneurial ideas getting funded whilst offering attractive return for investors. FundedHere is the first Singapore home-grown crowdfunding platform of its kind, offering both equity and lending-based crowdfunding.

Equity financing essentially refers to the sale of an ownership interest to raise fund for business purposes. Such share holdings will entitle them to future capital gains as well as dividends declared by the startups.

Lending-based crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to raise funds in the form of loans that they will pay back to the lenders over a pre-determined timeline with a set interest rate.

“Our strategy is to leverage on Singapore’s well-regarded regulatory framework and stature as an international financial centre to help startups in the region raise funding,” FundedHere CEO Michael Tee said in March when the platform went live.

“We will work closely with startups, incubators and venture capitalists as well as local universities and technology research agencies in Singapore. We will also reach out to startups in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and China.”

FundedHere received its Capital Markets Services (CMS) License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in March 2015, which permits the company to deal in securities under the Securities and Futures Act. The company is the first local crowdfunding platform to have been awarded the license by the authority.

Speaking to the Business Times back in May, Tee said:

“Since commencing operations, we have received numerous enquiries from startups and Accredited Investors (AIs). We are elated by the response, which demonstrates that licensed crowdfunding is gaining rapid acceptance as a vital component of the local startup eco-system.”

The platform facilitates investments or venture debts from as low as S$5,000 each. Only AIs are allowed to invest from as low as S$5,000 each in startups registered on the platform. The company targets to register at least 1,000 AIs by the end of the year.

In April, the company raised S$1.74 million in seed capital from three angel investors which it said it will use to acquire talent for the management team and grow its userbase.

In May, FundedHere said it had enabled four companies – three startups and one private education provider – to raise a combine S$1 million in funding through the platform.

“As a local startup, the crowdfunded bridging loan raised from FundedHere is timely and critical. We were pleasantly surprised by how smooth the process was, from submission through to actual transfer of funds,” said Peter Goh, managing director of Chloros Solutions, one of the startups that obtained a short-term loan through FundedHere.

In July, FundedHere unveiled plans to offer short-term bonds of up to S$5 million each from SGX listed firms. The company intends to offer both debt and equity securities going forward.

FundedHere said that the introduction of crowdfunded bonds is timely as many smaller listed companies in Singapore face challenges in secondary fundraising due to insufficient liquidity and current low share prices.

Metech International Ltd. eventually became the first company to do so, announcing earlier this week the issuance of S$2 million worth of ListCo Bonds at an annual coupon rate of 8%, with a 24-month tenure.

Watch FundedHere’s presentation video: