SINGAPORE (March 28): FundedHere, Singapore’s first licensed equity and debt-based crowdfunding platform, plans to reach out to Professional Investors (PI) in Singapore while exploring opportunities to expand in Malaysia and Indonesia.
FundedHere said it will begin offering crowdfunded equity or lending opportunities to private investors other than Accredited Investors (AIs) since it was awarded a Capital Markets Services license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in March 2016.
AIs are defined as individuals with at least $2 million in net personal assets, excluding the primary residence, or $300,000 in annual income.
Until recently, FundedHere was only open to AIs, in accordance with MAS guidelines.
However, on Feb 17, MAS removed the restriction, allowing FundedHere’s platform to be opened up to mass affluent or Professional Investors (PIs).
“The FundedHere platform is attractive to growth companies because of our high-quality network of AIs. The relaxation of rules means that we can now widen our pool of crowdfunding investors to include PIs, which are much larger in number,” said FundedHere Partner, Daniel Lin.
Over the past year, FundedHere has helped seven Singapore companies raise a combined $4 million through its online platform, www.fundedhere.com. These were shortlisted from more than 500 pitch decks before they were offered on the platform. Investors can invest from as low as $5,000.
Of the funds raised, 40% were made through equity investments of between $300,000 and $500,000 in startups. The remaining 60% of funds raised were for crowdlending of between $200,000 and $2 million to growth companies. Unlike equity-based crowdfunding, crowdlending enables companies to bridge short-term funding needs without diluting the founder’s stake in the company.
FundedHere also announced that it plans to bring its crowdfunding platform to Southeast Asia, with Malaysia and Indonesia as its first targets. The regional expansion will enable companies and investors to conduct cross-border crowdfunding transactions.
“Looking ahead, an expansion to Malaysia and Indonesia is the next logical step. Many startups and smaller listed-companies aim to expand beyond our shores and by extending our footprint, we will be better positioned to support local businesses in their growth journey,” said FundedHere’s co-founder and executive director, Agnes Siaw.
