Validus, co-founded by former DBS Bank SME head Ajit Raikar is a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that helps connect Singapore’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to accredited investors and financial institutions. Just recently, they announced that they have facilitated over $100 million in business fundings to date.
Validus has also facilitated more than 1,400 disbursements to Singapore’s SMEs, all with approvals within 24 hours.
This comes after Validus gained its Capital Markets License (CMS) from the Monetary Authority of Singapore last December.
Backed by Temasek Holdings’ Vertex Ventures, Validus is powered by a proprietary platform using robust cloud infrastructure as a delivery mechanism. Its claim to fame is a robust risk algorithm that was developed in partnership with the Credit Research Initiative (CRI) team of National University of Singapore’s Risk Management Institute (NUS-RMI). It uses artificial intelligence and dmachine learning to make more informed and responsible lending decisions.
Validus also offers insurance cover for lenders–up to 90% capital protection for most invoice financing facilities.
Ajit opines that addressing the financing gaps faced by local businesses facilitated their growth. It helps reduce financial intermediation costs, which he thinks are passed on to borrowers and investors. This way, there are less stringent requirements for small businesses which usually face financing difficulties.
“We have innovations in the pipeline that will give SMEs even more capital flexibility and choice to suit their business strategies, accelerating Validus towards our billion-dollar financing milestone by mid-2020.”
Meanwhile, Kee Lock Chua, CEO of Vertex Holdings said
“As a lead investor and primary partner when Validus first started out, Vertex has been able to see first-hand how it has positively impacted SMEs to accelerate their growth and capabilities.”
“While investment returns are important, what we value the most are companies that solve challenges and have a societal impact—that’s exactly what Validus is doing.”
Featured Image Credit: Validus
