KUALA LUMPUR: Funding Societies has officially launched in Vietnam today, marking its fifth market expansion.
In a statement today, Funding Societies said the expansion is a natural next step for the FinTech company as it pushes further into Southeast Asia.
Co-founder and group chief executive officer Kelvin Teo said Vietnam has always been part of the company's roadmap.
"This is an opportune time as we ride out of Covid-19, build a solid team with local FinTech veteran Ryan Galloway, and secure investment from tech giant VNG.
"We believe that Vietnam will be one of our largest markets given its enormous potential," he said.
Funding Societies, also known as Modalku in Indonesia, is a small and medium enterprise (SME) digital financing platform in Southeast Asia.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment, 98 per cent of operating businesses in the country in 2020 are SMEs, employing more than 5.6 million workers and accounting for more than US$241 billion (RM1.045 trillion) or 40 per cent of Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP).
However, the gap between the number of registered SMEs and the number of businesses in operation has been widening over the years, with only 54 per cent of registered SMEs appearing to be active in 2019.
Funding Societies said access to funding remains one of the most significant obstacles to the growth of Vietnamese SMEs, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this.
Funding Societies serves as a trustworthy platform for SME financing with artificial intelligence (AI)-led credit model, offering traditional term loans, customizable financing solutions, and a range of trade-based financing options, such as invoice financing.
In its seven years of operation, the company has disbursed over US$2 billion (RM8.67 billion) in business financing through more than five million loans across the region.
Funding Societies Vietnam country director Ryan Galloway said Vietnam SMEs do not have the same access to venture and early-stage capital markets as other Southeast Asian markets.
However, he said the market is equally as competitive, so Vietnamese entrepreneurs are trained to do more with less.
"We see lots of opportunity in Vietnam. We are excited to support the country's burgeoning SME landscape as we continue to serve the needs of millions of SMEs across Southeast Asia," he said.