ZORT, Thailand’s leading order management platform, together with Investree, Thailand’s SEC-approved crowdfunding portal, have partnered to provide access to funding for ZORT’s merchants via Investree’s crowdfunding platform. Merchants’ sales history combined with their business data will drive the crowdfunding platform’s risk scoring model, helping SMEs gain wider access to capital.
“This partnership will help our online merchants gain access to capital, grow their business and strengthen ZORT’s ecosystem. Crowdfunding makes sense for our SME merchants because it does not require collateral, while at the same time, allowing them to leverage their online sales data as credentials when applying for funding. This will be the first time for many merchants with multiple marketplace integrations to leverage their digital footprints for access to capital of up to 5 million baht,” said Thanatphan Thanasetsakul, ZORT’s Chief Business Officer.
“We surveyed our merchants and found that many of them have problems expanding their business due to limited access to funding. Despite their impressive online sales growth, they still cannot prove their credit worthiness to banks. This is in line with the Office of SMEs Promotion’s findings which states that over 80% of SMEs have difficulty in getting bank loans due to reasons such as a lack of collateral and the number of years in business,” he said.
Natsuda Bhukkanasut, Investree Thailand’s CEO, said that “Both ZORT and Investree have the same mission and vision, which is to help viable SMEs grow their business. SMEs are an integral part of Thailand’s economy, contributing 35% of Thailand’s total GDP and accounting for 72% employment.”
“There is a structural SME funding gap in Thailand and in many other countries. One way that we can help close this gap is to use SMEs’ verifiable digital footprint as an alternative factor when assessing their credit risk. Other ways to improve their access to funding is the make sure the application process is easy, fast and transparent, which is what we are doing at Investree. We have been able to help Thai SMEs raise more than 800 million Thai baht via our platform and we look forward to helping ZORT’s merchants grow through this partnership,” she said.
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