Extending credit in the Covid world

• Akshay Garg, co-founder and CEO of FinAccel, which operates 500-backed Indonesian fintech platform Kredivo, its flagship “buy now, pay later” solution, appeared on the Indo Tekno podcast to talk about how Kredivo was born and its plans for the future.

• He traced it back to his roots in statistical analysis, from co-founding an ad-tech media company in 2007, to his involvement in a study on the role of remittances during his time with the United Nations.
• “[The study] validated how important remittances are to the productive poor, to helping them build valuable businesses and improve their lifestyles over a period of time. And the idea here was that there is a gap in the market. There is an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of tens of millions of people in the long run. And the opportunity is very much present at this point in time. So why not? And that’s what really got things started,” he explained.
• Akshay also shared that as part of a risk management strategy, they reduced credit disbursals when the pandemic hit and focused on high-quality borrowers, collections and tightening underwriting rules. Since the start of Q3 this year, according to Akshay, operations are back to normal and “business is bigger than pre-Covid”.
• On the future of Kredivo, Akshay said, “We’re very actively incubating and building out a few other services. Some of them are actually inside of Kredivo. For example, instead of just e-commerce credit, we’re looking pretty closely to launch products around education and healthcare loans, where customers can use the same credit limit to also, for example, take lower interest education loans.”
• According to Akshay, besides Indonesia, the startup hopes to make an entry into at least one other market by the end of next year.
• Listen to the full interview here.

Expanding vegan options

• 500-backed Singaporean B2B agritech startup Glife Technologies has been appointed by Japan-based trading company Harada Corporation as the distributor of earthmeat™ in Singapore.
• earthmeat™ is a plant-based product designed to recreate the taste and texture of chicken. Vegan & made with non-GMO soy, it is formulated in Japan and has been localized for the tastebuds of Singaporeans.
• Founded in 2017, Glife Technologies is the brainchild of co-founders Joe Chen, Wayne Goh, Caleb Wu, and Justin Chou, who is also the CEO. Besides Glife, Justin also runs Singapore’s largest vegetarian restaurant chain, Greendot.

• Glife Technologies works as an online platform that connects farmers with restaurants directly, doing away with middlemen, and aims to use its online platform to create new and efficient ways to bring produce to customers.
• It was through his F&B venture that Justin started to “notice the gaps within the agriculture supply chain…[and] soon found that there was no way to trace back to the farmers whose produce was being sold in the night markets,” he said in an interview with KrAsia. “This lack of clarity, coupled with the need to go through multiple middlemen, often means that farmers fail to make consistent profits due to fluctuations in pricing. Moreover, the quality of this produce can’t be guaranteed. Restaurants also end up paying a premium for fresh produce.”
• Last year, the company secured US$1.2 million in seed funding.

Fundraising safely and responsibly

• 500-backed digital health company Prenetics has partnered up with Tatler Hong Kong for a fundraising dinner in aid of social housing enterprise Light Be, which aims to raise ~US$1.3 million.
• Dubbed ‘United Hong Kong’ the inaugural fundraiser will bring together up to 50 guests on 21 November, who will be assigned to 13 hotels across Hong Kong for an evening of immersive experiences by performing arts groups and independent artists at each location.
• Social distancing measures will be enforced and Prenetics will be distributing 1,200 Covid-19 testing kits prior to the event for all participating staff and guests, in accordance with the ‘new normal’ in the events space.
• Prenetics has been in the spotlight for its rapid Covid-19 testing kit, which it acquired from the University of Oxford, which can return accurate results within 30 minutes.
• The company is testing Premier league footballers twice a week in the UK and recently partnered with Cathay Airlines on a digital health passport.

Missed out the last Daily Markup? Go here to check it out.

You can also find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed.