Funding Societies partners with foodpanda to benefit local MSMEs via digital financing solutions, disbursed RM1 Million to date

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 May 2021 – Funding Societies Malaysia, the largest SME digital financing platform in the country and Southeast Asia, and foodpanda, the leading food delivery marketplace, announces strategic partnership to offer short-term digital financing solutions for registered merchants under the foodpanda network.

The collaboration which has collectively disbursed RM1 million in financing, enables local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with greater access to business financing opportunities, to facilitate common business operation needs, business expansions, as well as to help ensure sustainability of the MSMEs particularly in this uncertain pandemic-hit economy. As many as 20,000 to 30,000 merchants across multiple segments under the foodpanda network stand to benefit from tailored financing solutions offered by Funding Societies.

Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Funding Societies Malaysia, commented, “Driven by our mutual aim to extend support to MSMEs who are undoubtedly one of the hardest hit segments during this prolonged challenging time, our partnership with foodpanda enables the merchants under its large network to obtain collateral-free, short-term financing solutions with the added benefits of quick and seamless online application experience. The RM1 million disbursement we have achieved thus far through this collaboration alone is a testament of the MSMEs’ confidence in digital financing as a viable financing option and further reinforces our steadfast commitment to serving the underserved and unserved businesses across all segments.”

“As a nation, we have experienced unprecedented times in the past year. We wanted to be able to provide our vendors with financing opportunities to enable them business continuity despite the challenges they face. The partnership we have established with Funding Societies has enabled us to provide our vendors with the assistance they need. The feedback received from our vendors to date has been nothing but positive and we are delighted to have been able to play a small part in their success story,” said Sayantan Das, Managing Director, foodpanda.

“The biggest struggle small time F&B vendors have endured throughout the Covid-19 pandemic is on keeping their business afloat - and this initiative by Funding Societies and foodpanda has combated just that. It has helped me cover some costs such as my day-to-day stocks, monthly rent and utility bills throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. During a time where our business models and marketing strategies have been badly affected, I believe that initiatives like this can help me and other vendors who are working hard just to make ends meet,” said Abdul Rahman, Al-Raudah Arabian Food.

“This initiative by foodpanda Malaysia and Funding Societies has allowed me to get a rolling capital on a daily and monthly basis throughout these hard times. It's been hard for me to acquire a daily cash flow given the current situation of the pandemic, but initiatives like this are a great chance for us to sustain and have a reserved amount of cash flow in case things worsen,” said Saiful, Seri Buluh Kitchen.

Digital financing is becoming more prevalent in Malaysia given its ability to promote financial inclusion, particularly benefiting the MSMEs that are either unserved or underserved by traditional financing avenues by addressing common pain points revolving around traditional financing application process such as collateral requirement, arduous documentation requirement and slow processing time, therefore enabling them to obtain quick financing to grow their businesses. A unique value proposition of this partnership is the pre-approved financing offering by Funding Societies, by leveraging on foodpanda’s MSME database such as the merchants’ sales transactions in their credit assessment.

Eligible merchants under the foodpanda network will be able to enjoy the following financing benefits from Funding Societies:

• Full online application experience

• Minimal documentation requirement

• Fast disbursement with approval as fast as within three (3) working days

• Flexible tenure between of up to 18 months

• No collateral requirement

As part of the partnership, Funding Societies is also offering one of its newest products, the Micro Credit Line, to eligible foodpanda merchants. The Micro Credit Line facility enables MSMEs to draw a short credit period of between 30 days to 90 days at any given time that can be used for a variety of business purposes such as inventory purchase, payment to suppliers, or as an emergency fund.

For more information on the partnership, please visit: foodpanda & Funding Societies page