Validus Secures S$50 Million From UK’s Asset Manager Fasanara To Boost SME Lending

Republished By Plato

Followers: 0

Validus, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform for SMEs, has received over S$50 million from UK’s alternative asset manager Fasanara Capital to boost SME lending for underserved and unbanked SMEs in Singapore.

In addition to investing over S$20 million on Validus’ marketplace to fund SME financing facilities, Fasanara has committed S$30 million in new funds to Validus’ Enterprise Financing Scheme.

These funds are earmarked for Singaporean SMEs under the government-assisted financing scheme, to provide cashflow support and growth capital for those impacted by the pandemic.

With a key focus on real-economy impact investment solutions, Fasanara joined Validus as a lender in 2019, and has since funded more than 2,800 SME loans through Validus’ SME financing marketplace.

In furthering efforts to help SMEs recover from the impact of the pandemic and to position for growth, Fasanara and Validus are currently exploring similar financing solutions in support of government loan schemes in markets across Southeast Asia, where Validus is also present.

Validus has seen record growth amid the pandemic, and recently reported its strongest quarter to date with total loan disbursements exceeding S$150m. Since 2015, Validus has disbursed over S$850 million in SME loans and have helped boost lending in key supply chains across the region.

Nikhilesh Goel

Nikhilesh Goel, Co-founder and Group CEO of Validus, shared,

“We are pleased to attract such strong partners to our platform, and are honoured by the trust and support that Fasanara has in us.

This further validates our robust technology, processes, and innovative business model while reiterating Validus’ commitment to empowering and driving financial inclusion for SMEs.”

Francesco Filia

Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital, added,

“With Validus we found a partner that shares the same commitment in addressing the SME financing gap through providing stable funding.

Validus’ proven technology and ‘glocal’ structure gives them a strategic advantage in implementing best practices, strong credit models and governance framework – ingredients for a mutually beneficial partnership that we can leverage across other markets in the region.”

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash