Tokyo-headquartered Southeast Asian digital microfinance platform raises JPY 71m seed round

Bee Informatica, which operates “Funding Bee,” a digital microfinance solution for small businesses in Malaysia with the mission of “creating a world where all small businesses are fairly evaluated and can access finance,” has completed a seed round, raising a total of 71 million yen through third-party allotment.

The lead investor is Delight Ventures, along with CVCs and angel investors including ForDigit, Luatsu, Agent, and 10 others. Bee Informatica’s cumulative funding since its establishment has now reached approximately 110 million yen.

Purpose and Background of Funding

The specific uses of the raised funds include expanding the microfinance business for small businesses such as cafes, restaurants, and retail in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, development costs for obtaining a digital license, creating and implementing a secured (vehicle) loan scheme, as well as conducting market research in Southeast Asian countries for future expansion. Additionally, Bee Informatica plans to hire new employees as the organization expands.

The Future Envisioned by B Informatica

In Southeast Asia, including Malaysia where Bee Informatica currently operates, small businesses often face challenges in obtaining funds for inventory or business expansion from commercial banks or peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms that connect lenders and borrowers digitally, due to insufficient credit scores or collateral. Statistics suggest that about 80% of small businesses cannot access business loans from financial institutions. To bridge this gap before bank financing, Bee Informatica conducts a “microfinance business” using proprietary credit scoring. The requirements include 6 months of cash flow records from bank statements, social media page views, and a “psychometric test” developed in-house to assess repayment willingness and ability. By creating credit scores using data currently available to small businesses, Bee Informatica aims to eliminate barriers to financial access.

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