FundedHere Involves Professional Investors to Crowdfund Two Singapore Startups

FundedHere, a Singapore-based crowdfunding platform, has successfully raised S$ 505,500 for two local startups. Both campaigns included the pairing of professional investors with individuals not classified as Accredited Investors (AI).  This is a first for FundedHere and follows a recent global trend where investment crowdfunding offers include VCs or Angels along with smaller investors.

FundedHere said it raised S$325,500 for BEAM, a company that offers concierge warehousing and logistics solutions on a mobile app and S$180,000 for NephTech, a business that provides a cloud-based solution to offer surveillance and management of chronic renal disease patients.

FundedHere, which received its capital market services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2015, had initially targeted only accredited investors, defined as sophisticated investors with annual income of at least S$300,000 or assets excluding the first home of at least S$2 million. In March 2017, FundedHere began opening up its platform to Professional Investors (“PIs”) who fall outside this category in Singapore. The latter are described as mostly young professionals with less investment power but who are nonetheless interested in participating in the growth of local startups.

A total of seven PIs participated in the funding campaign for the latest two startups with an average of S$18,000 per investment. This compares with an average of S$50,000 for Accredited Investors who have participated in FundedHere programs to date.

Having completed the last two funding rounds, FundedHere has now raised S$5.6 million in funding for a total of 14 companies.

“FundedHere is excited by the first-time participation of professional investors. We already have a base of more than a thousand AIs who are very keen on the startup scene. Clearly there is growing interest among younger investors in Singapore in the startup scene. We want to build up our base of PIs and our pipeline of startups seeking crowdfunding,” said Co-Founder and Executive Director of FundedHere,  Daniel Lin.

Lin said his platform continues to see healthy interest from startups and the size of the funding rounds continue to increase;

“This validates that FundedHere’s business model of licensed equity crowdfunding which provides an alternative to asset classes is effective,” said Lin. “We also hope to continue contributing to the development of the startup ecosystem here in Singapore,” added Lin.

Benjamin Chen, a Professional Investor who made his first angel investment through BEAM’s campaign, was quoted on the opportunity FundedHere provided for smaller investors.

“[They] have provided an opportunity for PIs such as myself to participate in early- stage funding of promising startups, a space which was previously exclusive to venture capital and private equity firms. I am excited to be part of the community and look forward to upcoming campaigns.”