Here's Funding Societies! This fintech just raised $144M in a Series C+ round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. It helps MSMEs across SEA easily get loans online— and it has shelled out $2B since it launched in 2015.

• It is active in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
• SEA has a $300B financing gap unfilled by traditional financial institutions.

Who else cashed in? VNG Corporation, Rapyd Ventures, EDBI, Indies Capital, K3 Ventures and Ascend Vietnam also cashed in.

• It also bagged $150M in debt financing from institutional investors globally.

⚙️  How it works

It disburses loans from $500—$1.5M. (Yup, that's a wide range). Its customers range from neighborhood stores and e-commerce vendors to medium-sized businesses like startups and corporations.

• Get microloans, term loans, invoice financing, supply chain financing and more.
• It also partners with businesses like Shopee, Bukalapak, BukuWarung, Altera and Tanihub to offer loans to their customers.

AI power. It uses AI and data aggregation as an alternative to typical credit scoring. This allows it to be more effective than institutions like banks.

• It uses traditional and alternative data sources for credit scoring, like bank statements, transaction information and online reviews.
• Having a wide range of customers helps it train its AI model faster and better.

🔢  Run the numbers!

• Funding Societies-backed MSMEs contributed to $3.6B in GDP and 350,000 jobs.
• It has facilitated over 4.9M loan transactions.
• Its loan default rate is 1–2%, even during COVID.

👉🏼  What's next?

It just launched in Vietnam and will be heading to the Philippines next. It is also looking to offer financial services apart from loans.

• Part of the cash is also for a $16M ESOP buyback program.