CoAssets, Crowdo get crowdfunding licences in Singapore, Indonesia
Singapore
TWO homegrown crowdfunding sites have received approvals to operate various types of crowdfunding in South-east Asia.
The first is CoAssets, which announced on Tuesday that it has been granted the Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to run crowdfunding in Singapore.
CoAssets, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, specialises in facilitating funding for real estate and small and medium firms.
It said: "The CMS licence will now allow the company to start re-engaging its 55,000-plus users in Singapore, and further cement its reputation as the first listed crowdfunding platform in Asia."
CoAssets, which launched in Singapore in 2013, is said to have helped enterprises raise over S$45 million in funding to-date, with zero defaults.
The Republic is a key market and major revenue contributor to the group, said CoAssets, which also has offices in Australia, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
It is looking to launch a new website and mobile app in July.
Getty Goh, chief executive officer and co-founder of CoAssets, said: "This news is particularly meaningful as we celebrate our fourth anniversary. One of our key priorities is to focus on bringing a variety of projects through the platform to all our members, and making our website and mobile app more user-friendly."
Meanwhile, Crowdo has been registered with Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan) as a peer-to-business lending operator in the country. It allows individual investors to lend directly to businesses for a fixed return. The Singapore-based company has in the past year financed over 3,000 projects. These range from collateralised micro business loans to larger working order loans.
Hendrikus Passagi, a senior executive researcher at Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, said that many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia face difficulties in obtaining efficient funding through traditional channels such as banks and capital markets due to collateral barriers, guarantees, obligations to provide advances and limited fund availability.
Crowdo, founded in 2013, has received regulatory approvals to facilitate equity crowdfunding in Singapore and Malaysia, reportedly making it the first operator to achieve multi-jurisdiction licensing in South-east Asia.
