Investree, the Philippines’ first SEC licensed crowdfunding company, is looking to support the country’s underserved MSME sector.
“Digital transformation has to form a core part of recovery and future growth. We believe that every business deserves a chance to grow and we try our best to make sure that they have the right opportunities that would allow them to do so. We know how difficult it has become to run a business during these trying times. Investree Philippines is here so that they can focus on running day to day business operations, engaging with their customers, and managing their people,” said Xavier Marzan, Director and Board Member of Investree.
The platform recently held a “Bounce Back” event that garnered the participation of public officials.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno commented on the adoption of new financing models.
“Beyond seamless digital onboarding, BSP can facilitate greater innovation in digital financial services. All these developments sound promising. But the BSP and the government cannot solve the MSMEs challenges alone. We need the support of all relevant players, including industry innovators, to help bridge the financing gap that has long hampered the growth of MSMEs”.
Diokno said the COVID-19 health crisis has brought many challenges but opportunities have emerged:
“For one, the pandemic has required and quickened the adoption of digital innovations across many sectors including the financial services industries. Innovative supply chain financing models such as Investree’s online invoice and purchase order financing suitably respond to the government’s push to shift our economy towards a digital one. And the BSP has been one of the champions in the government’s effort towards digitalization.”
Other government leaders have also provided support by providing an overview of Government initiatives. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Kok Chuan Lim, Co-Founder and CEO of Investree Philippines, explained that if you are looking to lend out to smaller firms but face problems on how to do it to work with them in providing credit.
“They are extremely short dated in nature, they pay a handsome return between 1% – 3% per month. This gives banks a cost-effective way to participate in the MSME financing in the Philippines. With this, I think we can all grow together.”
SEC Commissioner Ephyro Amatong noted that crowdfunding has been around for a while now and is now a billion dollar industry in the US.
“It just expanded from financing charities into enterprise financing. Now it’s really a mode of investing or lending money to businesses and is quickly overtaking angel investment to become one of the largest sources of financing for SMEs second only to venture capital. The crowdfunding market internationally is expected to grow by $196.36B between 2021 to 2025, expanding at a compound average growth rate of over 15%. It is expected to grow and that’s why we’re very interested to try to bring this crowdfunding mechanism here in the Philippines where hopefully it will also be as successful.”
Investree Philippines is a Fintech-based joint venture company between the Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) and Investree Singapore. It received approval from the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate the first licensed crowdfunding platform for SME Financing in the country.