Singapore’s Helicap teams up with Credit Saison on $10m impact debt pilot

Helicap, a Singapore-based alternative lending startup, has teamed up with Japanese financial services group Credit Saison for a pilot US$10 million impact debt pilot in Southeast Asia.

David Z. Wang, co-founder & CEO of Helicap, and Kosuke Mori, managing executive officer and head of global business at the Credit Saison group/ Photo credit: Helicap

With the tie-up, Credit Saison will be deploying US$10 million in impact debt financing through a pilot to invest in select alternative lending platforms and non-bank financial institutions in Southeast Asia with the intent of bolstering financial inclusion in the region.

Helicap, through its units, provides curated access to alternative debt investments to a wide network of accredited investors, including family offices, high net worth individuals, impact funds, and institutional investors. The company looks to facilitate lending capital to over 300 million unbanked and underbanked small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals in Southeast Asia.

“Our collaboration with the Credit Saison group – one of Asia’s most prominent financial services companies – will create significant impact, especially for low-income borrowers and microenterprises in Vietnam and Indonesia,” said David Z Wang, co-founder and CEO of Helicap.

The pilot will leverage Credit Saison’s network of local lending institutions in the region and Helicap’s proprietary credit analytics engine, which can process extensive volumes of raw and unstructured loan data to provide credit insights into alternative lenders’ loan portfolios.

The Helicap technology team, led by former Goldman Sachs engineers, is currently adding artificial intelligence and machine learning features to its credit analytics engine to strengthen the platform’s predictive capabilities.

Earlier in April, the Singapore-based startup raised US$10 million in a series A equity round and a redeemable preference share funding led by Saison Capital.