The future is looking bright for businesses and investors in the Philippines as economic activity and people mobility continue to safely reopen even amid the threat of Omicron. Many companies are undertaking digital transformation and exploring innovative recovery plans. Logistics, e-commerce companies, online gaming and other businesses that cater to necessities have been experiencing growth.
MSMEs account for 99.5 percent of all businesses in the Philippines and 25 percent of the country’s total export revenue, according to the latest data from the Department of Trade and Industry. They employ more than 5 million Filipinos. Digitalization efforts are forecasted to boost the small and medium enterprises toward increasing the Philippine annual domestic output by at least $26 billion to $28 billion by 2024, according to the 2020 Asia Pacific Small and Medium Business Digital Maturity study conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC) and commissioned by Cisco.
Despite growing opportunities for SMEs in recent years, capital remains a key concern for many Pinoy enterprises. Investree, the Philippines’ first and only crowdfunding intermediary and funding portal, hopes to help SME entrepreneurs get back on their feet and achieve success through fast, transparent and secure financing options. Marking a major milestone, Investree Philippines, a venture of F(DEV) Digital Innovations and Ventures Inc and Investree Singapore Pte Ltd, recently obtained the first and only permanent license from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Established in 2015 in Indonesia, Investree entered the Philippine market in 2020 with the goal of providing businesses with easier and more affordable access to financing opportunities by optimizing data and technology. Investree connects businesses with institutional investors who want to help and earn attractive returns. It celebrated its first 100 notes disbursed only nine months after and its first PHP100 million notes financed in October of the same year.
Investree Philippines’ major thrust is to bridge the financial gap for SMEs and enable sustainable growth for businesses and investors through cooperative opportunities. The company seeks to provide reliable, efficient and transparent processes to empower more Pinoy SMEs in their business recovery strategies and transformation goals and in so doing contribute to financial inclusion and the country’s economic recovery.
Since its local launch, Investree Philippines has established alliances to further expand its network. It became an official member of the Fintech Alliance PH in May 2020 and Supply Chain Association of the Philippines (SCMAP) in June of the same year. Investree launched the Negosyo Bounce Bank series to empower Investree Philippines’ MSMEs through numerous webinars conducted by distinguished speakers. The company received overwhelming support and endorsement from major regulatory bodies such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), SEC and DTI. Another first for the company the past year is the onboarding of Netbank, a local bank that powers fintech and financial services companies in the country as Investree’s first banking investor.
“Pinoys are business-savvy, hardworking and creative people. But financial challenges hamper the growth of many local businesses. Anchored on our belief that #EveryoneCanGrow, we strive to change this starting with addressing the credit gap between SMEs and large enterprises. The success of our Negosyo Bounce Back webinar series endorsed by the DTI, SEC and BSP proves that institutions like us are not only relevant but also necessary in the current economic landscape of the Philippines,” shares Investree Co-Founder and CEO Kok Chuan Lim.
“Investree and F(DEV) believe that MSMEs hold the key to the country’s economic growth and we share a common goal of empowering them to maximize their potential. We launched Investree in the Philippines because we saw the need for a reliable, trusted and transparent financing platform that Pinoy entrepreneurs can partner with. We hope to build on the team’s momentum in the first year to do more for local SMEs in the years to come,” says F(DEV) Chief Executive Officer Xavier Marzan.
