Philippines based SME lending platform First Circle has reportedly secured funds amounting to $26 million in a fresh funding round. This round was led by Venturra Capital.
The other backers that participated in the funding round were Insignia Ventures Partners, Hong Kong’s Silverhorn Investment Advisors, and Tryb Group. The company plans to use these funds for the purpose of regional expansion.
Prior to this, the company raised $2.5 million, including a $1.3 million seed round 18 months ago. Founded by Irish duo CEO Patrick Lynch and CTO Tony Ennis, the goal of the company is to help small businesses scale by offering them short-term loans.
“A lack of access to capital is a problem that faces tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of businesses in the Philippines,” Patrick Lynch said. “Emerging markets are not capital developed, and our business model is quite different from the p2p lender model in that we do share risk with the investors.”
Majority of the First Circle’s loans are often transaction or working capital, such as financing to take on a new deal for a client. They give a guaranteed financial return that requires a fairly brutal wait of 90-120 days.
The SME company is staying focused on the Philippines for now, but CEO Lynch revealed that there are certain plans to expand to other parts of Southeast Asia as well which is a region of nearly 650 million consumers.