SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s fintech investment arm, has launched Labamu, an invoicing and billing platform for APAC small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Labamu aims to improve operations, increase sales, and provide access to financial services. The platform is initially rolling out in Indonesia.
SMEs account for 90% of businesses and 80% of employment across six Southeast Asian countries, representing a market worth US$2.5 trillion.
Labamu offers omnichannel sales support, including tools for digital and physical marketplaces, as well as catalogues, stock management, and reporting.
It also provides integrated financial services such as embedded banking, procurement, and working capital financing.
The platform also emphasises female entrepreneurship through its Wanita Tumbuh Bersama campaign, which has trained over 7,500 business owners in essential skills.
“Labamu believes that every small business contributes to shared economic prosperity and we want to empower them.
The platform stands out because we seamlessly integrate financial services into our platform. Merchants using Labamu can get invoice and bill payments directly deposited to their bank accounts,”
said Emmanuel Van De Geer, CEO of Labamu.
“SMEs are still suffering from lack of access. During incubation we could already see Labamu’s potential — the platform earned the trust of over 80,000 small business owners.
We congratulate Labamu on their launch as they embark on their journey to empower SMEs,”
said Alex Manson, CEO, SC Ventures.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik