I’m Kelvin Teo, co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies. Ask me anything!

NOTE: This AMA has ended. Find the Q&A with Kelvin here.

Hello TIA community!

I’m Kelvin Teo, and I am the co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies | Modalku, a licensed SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia—or generically known as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. We offer loans to SMEs in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, crowdfunded by individual and institutional investors globally.

My co-founder, Reynold Wijaya, and I started Funding Societies in 2015. We were studying at Harvard Business School and planned to party for two years, but the calling (or Harvard’s Kool-Aid) was strong. We set up Funding Societies with the vision of realizing financial inclusion for SMEs in Southeast Asia. Today, we’ve crowdfunded S$140 million+ loans to 2,000+ SMEs with default rates below 1.5 percent, backed by Sequoia Capital India.

Before Funding Societies, I was a consultant at Accenture, McKinsey & Company, and KKR, focusing on Southeast Asia. I have lived in several cities, but call Singapore home.

Feel free to ask me anything! Some examples:

• Why do SMEs come to Funding Societies for financing?
• What was your winning pitch at Tech in Asia’s Singapore conference in 2015?
• What kind of people do you hire?
• Or something personal:
  • What’s on your Spotify and/or reading list?
  • What’s your startup fashion style? (Black/white v-neck!)
  • Was that you who won the reality TV dating show in Malaysia? (Haha, no.)

As I say to my team all the time (or so they claim): any thoughts, questions, feedback, and comments?

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Note from Putra, TIA’s head of community content: The host may choose at his preference not to answer particular questions. The AMA is moderated, so let’s keep the questions friendly!

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Find the Q&A with Kelvin below.

Could we invest as a SG holdings company instead of personal angel investor? For tax benefits.

– Muhamad Rasid

Hi Muhamad, yes you may invest as a company (incorporated in Singapore/ other countries) or individual (accredited or retail) investor, as long as the company/ individual passes the standard know-your-customer (“KYC) checks required by regulations.