Tikehau-backed Helicap, a Singapore-based FinTech platform, has listed its flagship fund, Helicap Fund I on ADDX.
The fund, which generally has a minimum investment size of US$250,000 ($346,610), will now be available to approved investors at a minimum sum of US$10,000 via ADDX’s platform.
The listing on the private market exchange is made in a bid to improve financial inclusion for underserved individuals and micro- to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia.
Examples provided by ADDX via its statement on July 28 include a businessman in Manila seeking to start a grocery shop, or an entrepreneur in Jakarta needing financing for a motorcycle to make deliveries around the city.
The fund’s listing also aims to empower partner institutions to transform the way consumers and SMEs access credit, says ADDX in its statement.
The Helicap Fund I has disbursed over US$100 million since its inception in 2018. Its historical performance has been around 10% in net annualised returns.
“Microlending companies are tackling a real problem that traditional lenders have not been able to solve because they haven’t built the granular knowhow and infrastructure for it,” says ADDX’s CEO Choo Oi-Yee.
“Microlenders are putting funds in the hands of creditworthy individuals and small businesses, bringing about financial inclusion which translates into more jobs, more people having access to education and higher living standards,” she adds.
“Helicap is on a mission to power these microlenders by providing them with lending capital. The company’s mission of improving financial access for underserved customers ties in perfectly with ADDX’s own mission of democratising the private markets. We are therefore excited to list Helicap’s flagship fund.”
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