UOB announces partnership with crowdfunding platform
(4 March 2016 – Asia) United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) this week announced Asia’s first strategic partnership with a Israeli equity crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd.
The partnership with see the bank leverage its strengths and depth of experience in working with as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region with OurCrowd’s expertise in investing in some of the world’s most promising startups through equity crowdfunding.
“SMEs are the foundation of Asian economies, providing high levels of employment. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to obtain financing, particularly equity financing, in the early stages of growth. Because of this, UOB has partnered with OurCrowd, to connect smart ideas with smart money.”
As part of the partnership, UOB will invest US$10 million (A$13.58 million) investment in OurCrowd.
In a statement, the bank said that “through this collaboration, innovative Asian companies with differentiated and highly scalable technology products and services will now get access to another source of funding through OurCrowd’s equity crowdfunding platform.”
“Through equity crowdfunding, they can seek relatively small investments from a large number of investors in return for equity or shares in their startup company. It provides them with the funding needed to develop their concepts, products and services into viable business models.”
Janet Young, Head of Group Channels and Digitalization, UOB, said: “As Singapore’s largest SME bank, UOB has deep experience from its long-standing support of entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs. This collaboration with OurCrowd is a natural extension of our interest in nurturing the growth of small businesses."
“SMEs are the foundation of Asian economies, providing high levels of employment. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to obtain financing, particularly equity financing, in the early stages of growth. Because of this, UOB has partnered with OurCrowd, to connect smart ideas with smart money.”
OurCrowd Founder and CEO Jon Medved said, "The UOB OurCrowd partnership represents a huge step forward for OurCrowd and the Asian tech ecosystem. Together, we will empower scores of new entrepreneurs and match them with global investors and mentor networks. The beauty of crowdfunding OurCrowd style is that the investor in Asia can now access quality deal flow in Israel, Silicon Valley, and beyond, while a Singapore entrepreneur can easily gain top notch global backing."
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