Singapore stock exchange inks partnership with P2P lending company, wants to educate about access to capital
The motivation for SGX is to help educate startups and SMEs on the various different avenues to raise cash
Aimed at helping startups find access to capital, Singapore’s stock exchange (SGX) signed two separate Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with separate stakeholders in the startup economy.
The agreement that can be considered unique to our modern economy is an MOU signed with Crowdo, a regional lending platform with P2P and equity crowdfunding options. To date, it has financed about 2,000 projects.
Crowdo is extremely new to Singapore, having also announced its official launch in the city today. The company has two separate branches in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has obtained a full Securities Crowdfunding License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
“This partnership creates a powerful combination of a regional early stage and pre-IPO financing platform via Crowdo, and a competitive public market solution via SGX,” said Leo Shimada, Co-Founder and CEO of Crowdo in a statement.
From the perspective of SGX, the motivation for these agreements is to build an infrastructure to educate companies on ways they can access capital.
The end goal is to create more efficient avenues for raising money.
MOU with PwC Venture Hub
PwC Venture Hub is a programme that connects people within the startup ecosystem to help facilitate collaboration within the industry.
PwC is a global professional services company. The firm brands Venture Hub as a ‘one-stop shop’ for entrepreneurs and investors to find solutions and services to help build partnerships.
The MOU with SGX is meant to promote Singapore as an attractive hub for startups and educate global players about the opportunities in Asia (with Singapore as a hub). The two sides will also arrange dialogue and thought leadership in the ecosystem.
“As a market operator, we believe our established infrastructure and network can support and improve access to capital for early-stage companies,” said Mohamed Nasser Ismail, Head of Equity Capital Market (SME) and Head of Capital Market Development for SGX in a statement.
“Moving forward, we will continue to work with relevant like-minded stakeholders to facilitate better access to expertise and growth capital for these early stage companies.”
Also Read: Venture debt is a viable alternative to VC funding, and it is getting hotter in Southeast Asia
Antony Eldridge, the FinTech Leader and Financial Services Leader at PwC Singapore said the firm is positioning itself to be a player in Singapore’s startup scene. He called Singapore “well positioned to be a global innovation hub” and said these types of MOUs with will help accelerate the ecosystem’s growth.
One note on both MOUs is they do not just target startups but SMEs as well.
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