SINGAPORE (Dec 8): Crowdlending platform New Union has been awarded the full Capital Markets Service license (CMS) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and announced a potential deal flow pipeline of about $2 million to be launched soon.
Founded in 2013, New Union is one of the first and largest debt-based crowdfunding platforms in Singapore, raising $2.6 billion for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Cambodia and the Philippines to date.
“This is a watershed milestone for New Union. Singapore is known within the region for her stringent regulatory standards and for being a globally leading financial hub. Being accreditated by the MAS lends us credibility as we continue to embark on our growth quest to connect the Asean markets, creating a “New Union” for new-age SME financing,” says Eddie Lee, co-founder and CEO of New Union.
The start-up is also planning to add data analytics to its platform. It will track patterns from 220 data points gathered when SMEs onboard the platform.
“[Using big data analytics, we] are trying to understand the borrowers’ repayment habits. We studied the deals we have done previously but the amount of data is not enough, so the system still undergoing more fine-tuning,” says Lee.
The $2 million pipeline of deals looking for investors span different sectors such as interior design, FMCG trading and property development, and is still subject to the due diligence process.
The maiden deal for the about $2 million deal pipeline was filled in seven minutes for an interior design company.
Meanwhile, New Union is also looking to expand its business overseas in the coming year, while deepening its reach to Singapore SMEs.
“Partners from Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia actually approached us to say, ‘shall we do this together?’ We are trying to choose very carefully who we want to bring this relationship further, [who] shares the same aspiration as us to help the local SMEs and have the local understanding,” says Lee.
New Union is also exploring possible partnerships with financial institutions. The group is looking to share their tech, while accessing the institution’s lending expertise.
“We are open [to working with banks] but [the institutions] one-tier below the banks, we are open to working with them. With them, we form greater synergies, and would want to win this together,” says Lee.
