Singapore’s Capital Match raises $710K to enable small business lending

Singapore-based Capital Match has raised S$1 million (US$710,000) in a series A funding round, the P2P lending startup announced today.

The round was led by international investment firm Innosight Ventures. Previous investors Crystal Horse Investments and CE-Tech Invest also participated. The deal will see Innosight Ventures partner Pete Bonee join Capital Match’s board of directors.

(UPDATE, 21:38: Updated with comments from Pawel Kuznicki, co-founder and CEO of Capital Match.)

“Most importantly, [the deal gives the company] a great network of potential lenders and partners in Singapore as well as experience in scaling up technology businesses,” Capital Match co-founder and CEO Pawel Kuznicki tells Tech in Asia.

Capital Match says it is making a difference for small- and medium-sized enterprises that have difficulty reaching out to banks and other traditional financing institutions for their borrowing needs. It enables P2P lending among individuals and businesses.

See: New startup brings P2P loans to Singapore’s small businesses The startup provides an online platform where borrowers can submit their loan request, and prospective lenders can decide whether they want to extend the loan. Investors can expect a return of about 20 percent to 25 percent on their investment, according to the company. The startup handles the entire process, including payment processing, due diligence, debt collection, and investor updating.

According to Kuznicki, the funding will go toward ramping up the company’s tech and sales and marketing teams. This will allow Capital Match to increase its marketing efforts and advertising spend. It will also enable it to strengthen its product with additional protective measures for investors, such as insurance and trusted accounts. So far, the startup has processed 12 loans for 11 borrowers, for an amount close to S$1.7 million (US$1.2 million). About 150 investors have committed their funds into loans, Kuznicki says.

“Capital Match has identified an opportunity to solve a big market inefficiency with an innovative technology solution. We are also very impressed with the team,” Bonee said in a statement.

The P2P lending through crowdfunding model is a recent fintech trend around the world. Players in this space include Lending Club and Prosper in the US and Funding Circle in the UK. Singapore is also home to loan crowdfunding platform Moolahsense and P2P lending startup Funding Societies.