Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank led a $25m series B round for Singapore-based peer-to-peer lending marketplace Funding Societies yesterday through its SoftBank Ventures Korea subsidiary.
Line Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile messaging platform Line, also participated in the round, as did Sequoia Capital India, Alpha JWC Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures and Qualgro VC.
Funding Societies runs an online platform that allows private and institutional investors to lend money to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It operates separate brands in different markets, some under the name Modalku.
The company offers lenders a 14% per annum return and the loans are secured by a Singapore government-registered escrow account.
Sequoia India had previously led a $7.5m series A round for Funding Societies in August 2016 that also featured Alpha JWC, Golden Gate Ventures and Qualgro.
Sean Lee, managing director of Softbank Ventures Korea, told TechCrunch: “SME digital lending across Southeast Asia is where we saw huge growth potential.
“Among many players, we were most impressed with Funding Societies for what it has achieved in a short period of time and its potential to continue to become the number one player.”