Validus Capital team
Singapore’s SME financing platform Validus Capital has launched in Vietnam, its third market in Southeast Asia.
The other market is Indonesia, where it launched under the brand name Batumbu in May 2019.
Validus Vietnam looks to plug the unmet US$21 billion SME financing gap in the country.
To meet the financing needs of SMEs in burgeoning industries, including manufacturing, real estate, construction, healthcare, consumer services, retail and wholesale trade, Validus Vietnam will partner with corporates to provide SME growth financing to their vendors and subcontractors.
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Pilot programmes with partners that are in the pipeline include Medicare Vietnam, a pharmacy, health, beauty and personal care retail group; and Unicons, a member of Coteccons Group, a private construction enterprise in Vietnam.
Validus Vietnam will operate using the same proprietary technology and credit scoring systems currently used in Singapore and Indonesia to provide Vietnam’s SMEs access to affordable sources of growth financing.
Tran Thi Thuy Ha, Chief Business Officer of Validus Vietnam, said: “Helping our SMEs to grow will be crucial for Vietnam’s continued rise as a Southeast Asian economy.”
Founded in 2015, Validus Capital claims to have facilitated over S$300 million in business financing to SMEs in Singapore to date. Validus uses Data Analytics and AI to drive growth financing to the underserved SME sector. Backed by Dutch Development Bank FMO, Vertex Ventures and VinaCapital, Validus holds a Capital Markets Services Licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and its Indonesian arm Batumbu has received OJK registration in April 2019.
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