P2P lending platform Validus expands into Vietnam

VALIDUS Capital, a P2P (peer-to-peer) lending platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has expanded into Vietnam as its third South-east Asian market, it announced on Wednesday.

SMEs make up 97 per cent of Vietnam's enterprises, but only account for 22 per cent of total bank lending. To meet a US$21 billion SME financing gap in the country, Validus Vietnam will partner corporates to provide SME growth financing to their vendors and subcontractors.

The pilot programmes it has in the pipeline include partnerships with Medicare Vietnam, the largest pharmacy, health, beauty and personal care retail group in the country; and Unicons, a member of Coteccons Group which is one of the leading private construction enterprises there.

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