SCB Abacus, an alternative digital lending platform in Thailand backed by Siam Commercial Bank, has raised $12 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round.
The round was led by Singapore-headquartered VC firm Openspace Ventures, with additional capital coming from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and CAI Partners, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The funding injection will be used to help the fast-growing business accelerate its product development and expansion, strengthen its technology infrastructure and underwriting capabilities, and recruit additional talent.
“The company’s current mission is to create better access to finance through inclusive digital lending platforms. Today, at least 60 percent of our borrowers were previously denied bank loans. With the use of our in-house machine learning credit models and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, we can assess borrowers using alternative information and provide a fast and seamless loan process. We envision wider usage of our data infrastructures in other non-financial sectors as well,” SCB Abacus Founder and Chief Executive Sutapa Amornvivat said.
The company’s flagship product, MoneyThunder, is a digital unsecured lending application that serves the underbanked population in Thailand. The platform utilizes SCB Abacus’s in-house artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to underwrite loans and provide a completely automated approval experience for consumers.
SCB Abacus also offers customers a fast time-to-money of 5-20 minutes from initial registration through loan disbursement.
As of August 2021, MoneyThunder has seen close to 5 million application downloads with loans disbursed surging, increasing by a multiple of 10 in 2021 versus 2020.
SCB Abacus is the first FinTech spin-off in the Thai banking industry, combining the resources of a national bank with the expertise and scale-up experience of international venture capitals. As a result, the business will be best positioned to transform an alternative lending sector traditionally dominated by informal credit solutions, the company said.
“We are delighted and excited to partner with Openspace Ventures, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, and CAI Partners, as our lead global investors. Looking ahead to growth in the industry, there is massive potential for SCB Abacus. We believe that the fundraising will support and strengthen the foundation for SCB Abacus with long-term and sustainable growth,” Arak Sutivong, Chief Executive Officer of SCB 10X, a major shareholder in SCB Abacus, added. SCB 10X is a holding company of Siam Commercial Bank.
Following the Series A funding round, the SCB Abacus team believes the business is now ready to further deliver on creating better access to finance.
SCB Abacus expects to raise a Series B funding round by end of 2022 with a fivefold growth of its current loan portfolio compared to 2021.
SCB Abacus is the first fintech spin-off in the Thai banking industry, dedicated to innovative solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and alternative data. SCB Abacus collaborates with partners across industries, including e-commerce, online marketplaces, telecommunications, and automobiles.
Its flagship digital lending application “MoneyThunder” offers microloans and buy now, pay later (BNPL) for the retail segments in Thailand.