IncomLend seeks funding in Europe and Asia

IncomLend, a Singapore-domiciled startup online marketplace for loans to small companies in Asia, told DigFin in July, 2017, it was looking to scale the business by partnering with large corporations.

The company has yet to land a corporate whale, but says the volume of receivables it’s processing has prompted a search for additional funding.

Morgan Terigi, co-founder, says the company is tapping the same investors who use IncomLend’s platform to get exposure to invoices from trade supply chains.

To facilitate this fundraising activity, IncomLend is establishing a trust in Luxembourg, due to be approved and live by summer, that will take positions in invoices on the platform on behalf of investors.

This will now give investors three kinds of exposure: via a fund, directly on the platform, or as equity in IncomLend itself.

Depending on the nature of the transaction, investments in the fund can range from a modest $150,000 to as much as $10 million. Terigi says the company hopes to raise at least $20 million in the Luxembourg structure; the fund should be open by April, while equity fundraising for the company itself will probably kick off this summer.

IncomLend went live in September 2016, acquiring invoices from small supply companies in Asia serving multinational corporations.

Although the company hasn’t yet struck a deal with a multinational to refer its suppliers to the platform, Terigi says IncomLend is in talks with two banks, one in Southeast Asia, the other in Europe, to collaborate. One challenge to making a deal, he says, is the different speeds at which fintechs and banks operate.