Oriente, a lending startup headquarted in Hong Kong and operating in the Philippines (via Cashalo) and Indonesia (via Finmas), announced today that they have secured a fresh capital injection of approximately $50 million in its on-going Series B funding round.
Dr. Peter Lee, Co-Chairman of Henderson Land, a leading property developer in Hong Kong, has made a significant commitment as the lead new investor. Wix.com, a leading cloud-based website development platform, has also participated, along with funding from other existing investors.
This new capital will be used to fuel growth in Oriente’s existing markets and drive expansion into new markets such as Vietnam. The funding will also enhance Oriente’s technology infrastructure and market-leading product suite and big-data capabilities to unlock deeper business insights for partners.
In 2019, Oriente said that they saw a 700% year-on-year (YoY) growth in transactions, served more than 4 million new users, and delivered more than 20% increase in sales volume for its merchant partners.
For consumers, it provides access to a range financial services, including cash loans, digital-credit, offline to online consumer finance, POS lending solutions, and working capital financing for SMEs and MSMEs.
It’s nano-financing Pay Later via Cashalo product, for example, helps users discover and decide where to shop or eat while saving them time and money. Real-time data insights provided by Oriente empowers merchant partners to make smarter business decisions while increasing conversions and lowering risk. For underbanked communities, it accelerates economic inclusion and growth by unlocking financial access, powering commerce, and extending financial literacy through its app and community outreach programs.
“The last 12 months have been a period of unprecedented growth at Oriente. This investment, which comes during a time of significant global economic turmoil, puts us in a strong position as we look to step up our efforts in a highly competitive sector,”
said Geoffrey Prentice, co-founder of Oriente.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Peter Lee and Wix.com join our incredible stable of existing investors on our journey. Southeast Asia’s vastly underserved merchant consumer ecosystem has tremendous economic potential, and we are excited to power a more capable financial services infrastructure that is purpose-built to unlock this.”
The new capital injection follows on from its previously announced initial funding in November 2018 and, more recently, a US$ 50 million debt funding facility from Silverhorn Group.
Featured image: Geoffrey Prentice, co-founder of Oriente
