I'M IN accelerator is focusing on providing support to early-stage, growth-driven and black-owned tech companies through education, mentorship and financing in South Africa. The accelerator is an IDF Capital initiative and a pre-investment readiness program for tech startups with an exceptional business concept and who have an early stage market-viable product.
PayPal has agreed to acquire Swift Financial, a leading provider of working capital solutions to small businesses in the U.S. Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Swift Financial was established in 2006 to provide funding in order to support businesses. Since then, Swift has provided funding to thousands of growing companies in the U.S.
British Business Bank Investments, BBB’s commercial arm, has committed €40m (£35m) to the Harbert European Growth Capital Fund II. The fund focuses on fast-growing technology SMEs, particularly those backed by venture capital firms.
TXF, an online news resource for trade & export finance, supply chain and commodity finance sectors, is presenting a SMEs in Export Finance conference.
Attendees will learn insights and network with the best and the brightest high-level executives from the IT Financial Industry. Each day, technology and Innovation becomes an even more essential tool for financial institutions seeking to grow for years to come. The 17th Annual CL@B 2017 Conference is the largest Latin America technology and innovation event featuring networking and learning platforms for the financial industry. The conference is a traditional bridge connecting Latin America and the world.
SME Finance Forum Member Fern Software, is serving a new client. Abacus core banking system which is provided by Fern, has signed with Ruby Hill Microfinance, a new microfinance entity in Myanmar. Ruby Hill was established earlier this year as a joint venture between Myanmar’s Loi Hein Group and Dragon Capital Group, a Vietnam-based asset manager.
As alternative lending gains global traction, a growing number of U.S-based alternative lenders are exploring international growth, with large companies like OnDeck, Kabbage and SoFi leading the way.
Some alternative lenders have begun their expedition closer to home by extending their reach into Canada. Others are traveling farther beyond to parts of Europe and Australia, for example, while others are eying eventual growth in Asia.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be able to receive payments faster through a virtual credit card solution which facilitates cash flow to businesses. Developed in partnership between credit card company Visa and FinTech developer Validus, the payment solution is the first of its kind in Singapore, and seeks to unlock capital for SMEs to reinvest in their products and services, according to a press statement by the two firms.
Alibaba has been a trailblazer in many ways. One area that Alibaba wants to dominate is finance for both consumers and SMEs and they are well on their way. Ant Financial, their financial services subsidiary, is executing on this vision and last week Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial, delivered a presentation explaining their approach.
To put the reach of Ant Financial into perspective, Jing shared some hard numbers:
While tighter banking restrictions have forced more small and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers towards non-bank lenders, a lack of awareness is still hindering real growth within the sector. The Disruption Index, which has been jointly developed by small business lender Moula and research and consulting firm Digital Finance Analytics (DFA), puts the score for Q1 2017 at 38.39, which is 6.1% higher than the score of 36.18 recorded in the same time period a year ago. Despite this, only gradual change has been made to grow awareness amongst SMEs about these alternatives.
