Funding organization | Modalku, a Southeast Asian SME digital finance platform, has raised US$25 million in equity investment from Japan’s sovereign wealth fund Cool Japan Fund (CJF).
This is CJF’s first investment in a fintech company in the region.
Investments will be used to strengthen funding organizationaims to strengthen its core business of SME finance across five markets (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam) and further expand its payments business.
The company plans to use the capital to strengthen its receivables and lending solutions, improve payment processing for small and medium-sized businesses, and further digitize its lending operations through technology and AI.
This partnership between the funding body and CJF aims to support Japanese companies expanding into Southeast Asia by providing financial services and promoting good commercial relationships with local SMEs.
This initiative coincides with the growing interest of Japanese companies in the Southeast Asian market, with ASEAN countries accounting for half of the top 10 promising countries for overseas business expansion in a recent survey.
Funding Society reports strong momentum in its operations, including strategic activity. investment From Maybank earlier this year, Credit line renewal Partnered with HSBC’s ASEAN Growth Fund.
Since its inception, the company has provided more than US$4 billion in loans to approximately 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses, and processed a total annual transaction volume of US$1.4 billion through its payment platform.
Kenichi Kawasaki, Chairman of the Cool Japan Fund, said:
“We are excited to support the funding body through this investment. Our track record of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Southeast Asia will help Japanese companies overcome the challenges of entering new overseas markets, particularly in the region. We are providing sufficient support.
As Japanese companies’ attention shifts to Southeast Asia, this partnership with funding organizations through this investment will help expand overseas demand for Japanese products and services, which will not only benefit the Japanese economy but also increase the number of people doing business with Japanese people. We believe this will also benefit local small and medium-sized businesses. “Company”.
Mr Kelvin Teo, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Funding Society | Modaluk said,
“We are honored by Cool Japan’s efforts to collaborate with and support Japanese companies expanding overseas.
Many of the companies we serve in Southeast Asia are Japanese companies, their suppliers and/or customers. We look forward to working with CJF to further strengthen this bond. ”
Featured image credit: Edited from freepic
