Singapore

DBS Bank has signed cross-referral agreements with peer-to-peer (p2p) lending platforms Funding Societies and MoolahSense, it announced on April 19. DBS said it is the first Singapore bank to collaborate with such lending platforms to further expand funding sources available to small businesses. Under the partnership, DBS will refer some of the smaller businesses that it is unable to lend to, to Funding Societies and MoolahSense, said the bank in a statement.

A string of recent announcements by banks here underlines the importance they attach to the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment, even as SME loan demand looks set to moderate this year. SMEs are vital to the local economy so any slowdown amid prevailing business headwinds will be only temporary. And banks are already acting to secure their market positions ahead of this inevitable recovery.

United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has announced a strategic collaboration with a global equity crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd that involves having the bank invest US$10 million in the platform. This collaboration is OurCrowd’s first foray into Asia. The partnership pairs UOB’s strengths  and  depth  of  experience  in  serving  entrepreneurs  as  well  as  small-and  medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region with OurCrowd’s expertise in investing in some of the world’s most promising start-ups through equity crowdfunding.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) has formed a partnership with OurCrowd to provide equity crowdfunding in Southeast Asia. UOB is a leading Asian banking with over 500 offices in 19 different countries and territories around the world. Incorporated in 1935, UOB is based in Singapore and prides itself in its experience of working with SMEs.  UOB will pair its established network with the OurCrowd’s best in class investment crowdfunding. OurCrowd, based in Israel, has taken a global approach offering smaller investors access to top tier deals regardless of location.

ABOUT six in 10 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore rely on bank loans for financing, leaving the other four in 10 unserved by financial institutions.

A Visa and Deloitte Digital SME Banking Study, in highlighting the struggle SMEs face in securing financing, also analysed the financial needs of these SMEs and said that the low-risk appetite of banks was limiting the amount of lending to SMEs.

Singapore-based women entrepreneur community platform, Woomentum, announced yesterday that it has launched its crowdfunding platform, Woomentum Fund, which is purportedly the first women-centric crowdfunding platform in Asia.In 2014, founder of Woomentum, Mouna Aouri Langendorf, who spent 13 years building bridges in Africa and Asia, decided that she wanted to build another kind of bridge – a metaphorical one; one that connects women entrepreneurs to investors and the wider entrepreneurial community.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is gearing up its efforts to support smaller firms and entrepreneurs here by establishing a partnership with venture capital Clearbridge Accelerator (CBA) to develop what they say is a one-of-its-kind equity crowdfunding platform in Asia.

The platform will allow entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to raise funds, while giving investors the opportunity to participate in the growth of these companies, SGX and CBA said yesterday.