Get Permit, Modalku Group Officially Expands to Thailand

my capital (known as Funding Societies in Singapore and Malaysia) announces expansion to Thailand, after securing license through crowdfunding loans by the regulator Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under brand Funding Societies, the company will focus on offering business loans for MSME players and alternative investments for lenders.

Talking about market share, there are more than 50% of the total 3 million MSMEs in Thailand whose business is hampered because it is difficult to obtain business loans, especially short-term business capital loans. Just like in Indonesia, conventional financial institutions there are more focused on long-term loans or loans with collateral.

According to the International Finance Corporation, this situation creates a funding gap of more than $40 billion for Thai MSMEs. This lack of funding has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, in which lenders have reduced access to loans in order to manage financial risk.

"MSMEs contribute to 40% of Thailand's GDP, but this segment faces many challenges when trying to access loans from conventional institutions, ranging from lack of assets for collateral, difficult document requirements, and lengthy approval processes," said Varun, Country Head of Funding Societies Thailand. Bhandari in an official statement, Wednesday (10/2).

In these countries, Funding Societies will provide various options for unsecured loans to help MSMEs expand their business, acquire businesses, or finance projects. Business owners can fill out a simple online application form, submit several documents, and then receive loan approval within three working days.

The Modalku Group has also entered into regional collaborations with Lazada, Zilingo, and Bank CIMB to help serve MSMEs in their ecosystem.

From the funding side, they can enter the platform through crowdfunding to access opportunities to finance various business loans. Through funding activities, lenders have the opportunity to diversify attractive investment alternatives.

Modalku Co-Founder & CEO Reynold Wijaya added, “We hope that with the wider reach of the Modalku Group in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, we can support more MSMEs with the potential to develop their businesses. [..] Through collaboration between countries, Modalku Group will continue to innovate to become the fintech platform of choice.”

Amid the pandemic, Modalku Group's strong risk management has kept the loan default rate below 2%.

Modalku provides p2p lending services for potential MSMEs with unsecured capital loans of up to IDR 2 billion. To date, the Modalku Group has disbursed business loans of around Rp21,8 trillion to more than 3,7 million loan transactions.

In the Land of the White Elephant, it is also colored by a handful of startups from Indonesia who are confident about out of the cage. Investree and FundCita are two companies that came from . Investree itself in the latest news is just waiting for permission to be issued by the SEC, this company has just pocketed operating license in the Philippines.

Most companies come from outside Indonesia, the majority from Singapore, then enter Indonesia by localizing the name brand-his. Smart Credit belongs to this group.

In other verticals, there are Gojek, Jet Commerce, JavaMifi, PasarPolis, Jala (still finalizing) operating in Thailand. A number of countries in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam and the Philippines were also targeted by Ruangguru, Sociolla, Xendit and others.