Singapore's Incomlend gets $60m for SME ESG financing program

UK-based Fasanara Capital provided the entire $60 million, which will establish a service that will aim to help SMEs positively impact their communities while continuing to capture new business opportunities and grow revenue.

“SMEs represent approximately 90% of companies globally and have tremendous collective potential to make a positive impact,” Fasanara CEO Francesco Filia said in a statement. “With Incomlend's global reach and proven expertise, we are confident that they can maximize our investment and deliver working capital at scale to the right SMEs to drive meaningful change worldwide.”

Founded in 2016, Incomlend claims to be one of the first alternative cross-border trade finance platforms globally. It has processed more than 2,300 transactions to date and provides invoice finance services in more than 50 countries.

Incomlend raised $20 million last year from France’s CMA CGM Group and Sequoia Capital India. Previous investors also include the International Finance Corporation and GTR Ventures Capital.

The company says it will assess SMEs’ ESG plans by using standards such as the UN Principles on Business & Human Rights, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement. With improved cash flow, it expects SMEs to have the financial health and resources to make more ESG changes within their organizations and supply chains. This could include uptake of green technology.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Financials
• Expansion
• Singapore
• ESG
• SME
• Financial Services