Fintech startup Asenso banks $1.2m from Talino Venture Labs, CARD MRI

Singapore-based fintech startup Asenso Tech raised US$1.2 million in funding from Philippine joint venture partners Talino Venture Labs, an enterprise venture accelerator, and microfinance institution Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI).

Photo credit: Asenso

The startup, which operates as an end-to-end microbusiness accelerator, expects to build an integrated platform to provide micro to medium-sized enterprises access to capital, supply chain, marketplace, and rewards systems, leveraging CARD MRI’s network of financial institutions.

Asenso’s products include an online marketplace, an AI-powered credit scoring system, chatbot-assisted loan applications, natural language processing to support local languages, and an e-wallet.

“Our technology addresses the needs of the underserved,” said  Winston Damarillo, co-founder of Asenso and CEO of Talino Venture Labs. “Asenso will amplify the work that CARD MRI has already done these past 30 years and will carry it to the future using technology to add greater sustainability and scale to their good work.”

As of June 30, 2019, CARD MRI recorded over 6.36 million clients with loans and a US$514 million loan portfolio, according to a statement.