Jenfi raises more funds for its “growth capital as a service” platform

jenfi, a “growth capital as a service” platform, can provide online businesses with revenue-based financing in as little as one day. The Singapore-based startup announced today that it has raised $6.6 million in pre-Series B funding, led by Headline Asia. Participation came from returning investor Monk’s Hill Ventures, which led Jenfi’s Series A two years ago, ICU Ventures, Granite Oak, Korea Investment Partners & Golden Equator Capital and Atlas Ventures.

Since Jenfi’s inception four years ago, it has deployed more than $25 million in non-dilutive capital to some 600 companies. His clients include Gushcloud, Ralali, Hello Health, Lamer Fashion, Buy2sell, and Mystifly. The new financing will be used to grow its customer base in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, and expand into new markets in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. It will also allow Jenfi to hone its credit underwriting and risk assessment capabilities, including its proprietary risk assessment engine.

The fintech was founded in 2019 by Jeffrey Liu and Justin Louie, who left their previous startup, fitness marketplace GuavaPass, when it was acquired by ClassPass. Jenfi’s “growth capital as a service” model was developed after the two realized that online business owners, such as e-commerce vendors, SaaS, and consumer technology providers, often struggled to Raise capital to finance your growth expenses from traditional financial institutions.

Businesses that apply to Jenfi can get funding ranging from $10,000 to $1 million to spend on marketing, inventory and growth campaigns. Liu told TechCrunch that the aggregate sales generated by the companies in Jenfi’s portfolio now exceed $150 million.

Decisions about which businesses to lend to are made using Jenfi’s proprietary risk assessment engine, which integrates with data sources such as accounting software, payment gateways, e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and digital advertising. This allows Jenfi to continuously monitor the business activity of its borrowers, including revenue growth and marketing ROI.

As Jenfi grows, it adds more data sources from the local market, including Haravan sales management platform and KiotViet POS management software in Vietnam, and almost all banks in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Jenfi’s proprietary risk engine is one of the main ways it differs from other companies offering revenue-based financing to digital-native businesses, Liu said, because it means more comprehensive creditworthiness assessments and customized financing solutions.

Since its Series A was announced, Jenfi has implemented its first machine learning-assisted underwriting system, which Liu says allows it to make underwriting decisions faster, with greater accuracy and less human input.

Going forward, Jenfi will work with synthetic data to better understand customer behavior and potential future outcomes. The company also plans to develop a technology platform to allow third parties to use its proprietary scoring models on their own native infrastructure.

Another way Jenfi differentiates itself from the competition is the flexibility of its payment plans, Liu said. They range from three to twelve months and are designed to be flexible, taking into account the needs of each business. Rebate amounts are based on a predetermined percentage of income, but that varies widely by business type. For example, a high-margin software business may be awarded a higher revenue share percentage than businesses in another industry.

The total amount of fees a company pays depends on the credit score generated by its proprietary risk engine. Liu said the fees are transparent and competitive, with no hidden fees or charges.

Jenfi’s plans for the near future include offering growth capital to more clients through the use of dynamic limits, which can be adjusted based on client needs and creditworthiness. It will also launch an on-demand financing product to meet recurring growth capital needs, such as variable monthly ad spend.

In a statement, Headline Asia Partner Aki Okamoto and Principal Jonathan M. Hayashi said: “We have been continuously conducting research on revenue-based financing and have spoken to almost every player in this field in Asia. . Jenfi absolutely stood out for us. Its technology, product, operation and traction are significantly better than its peers.”