FundedHere To Open Licensed Crowdfunding Platform to Mass Affluent Investors; Announces Plans To Expand To Malaysia and Indonesia

Singapore, 28 March 2017 – FundedHere, Singapore’s first licensed equity and debtbased crowdfunding platform, announced today that it plans to reach out to mass affluent investors in Singapore while exploring opportunities to expand in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Commemorating the first anniversary since it was awarded a Capital Markets Services license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) in March 2016, FundedHere said it will begin offering crowdfunded equity or lending opportunities to private investors other than Accredited Investors (“AIs”).

AIs are defined as individuals with at least S$2 million (US$1.5 million) in net personal assets, excluding the primary residence, or S$300,000 in annual income. Until recently, FundedHere was only open to AIs, in accordance with MAS guidelines. However, on 17 February 2017, MAS removed this restriction, which will allow FundedHere’s platform to be opened up to mass affluent or Professional Investors (“PIs”).

“The FundedHere platform is attractive to growth companies because of our highquality network of AIs. The relaxation of rules means that we can now widen our pool of crowdfunding investors to include PIs, which are much larger in number. Interest in crowdfunding is growing in Singapore and are confident to double our investor pool before the end of 2017,” said FundedHere Partner, Mr. Daniel Lin.

Over the past year, FundedHere has helped seven Singapore companies raise a combined S$4 million through its online platform, www.fundedhere.com. These were shortlisted from more than 500 pitch decks before they were offered on the platform. Investors can invest from as low as S$5,000.

Of the funds raised, 40% were made through equity investments of between S$300,000 and S$500,000 in startups. The remaining 60% of funds raised were for crowdlending of between S$200,000 and S$2 million to growth companies. Unlike equity-based crowdfunding, crowdlending enables companies to bridge short-term funding needs without diluting the founder’s stake in the company.

FundedHere is the first crowdfunding platform to offer bond-funding for companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) Catalist. These short-term ListCo Bonds – of up to S$5 million each with an annual coupon of about 9% – do not require the issue of a prospectus but can only be offered to AIs registered with FundedHere.

On 9 December 2016, FundedHere announced that its first ListCo Bond of S$2 million for SGX-listed MeTech International Ltd was fully funded within two weeks after it was uploaded onto the platform. The bonds were fully taken up by 23 AIs.

“FundedHere has grown leaps and bounds in the past year. We’ve established a strong foundation within Singapore’s legal framework and have proven that equity and debt-based crowdfunding can be a vital component in Singapore’s ecosystem for startups and growth companies,” said FundedHere’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Ms. Agnes Siaw.

FundedHere also announced that it plans to bring its crowdfunding platform to Southeast Asia, with Malaysia and Indonesia as its first targets. Leveraging on the platform’s foundation in Singapore, the regional expansion will enable companies and investors to conduct cross-border crowdfunding transactions.

“Looking ahead, an expansion to Malaysia and Indonesia is the next logical step. Many startups and smaller listed-companies aim to expand beyond our shores and by extending our footprint, we will be better positioned to support local businesses in their growth journey,” she added.