SaaS solutions provider for small and medium businesses, AppsVillage Australia Ltd (ASX: APV), has achieved a positive take-up of its microfinance offering providing micro- loans to SMBs with its official launch in the US.
Founder and CEO, Max Bluvband, said that with over 950 applications received ahead of its US launch, AppsVillage has now formally launched its microfinance offering and will be providing microloans valued between US$5,000 and $50,000 to its existing SMB network of over 500,000 SMBs.
Mr Bluvand said it is estimated there are more than 65 million SMBs globally representing approximately 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Of these, 40% have unmet financing needs equating to $5.2 trillion.
He said the official launch follows the successful completion of an eight-week pilot phase in partnership with Seek Capital LLC and Fundomate, Inc, during which AppsVillage received funding applications from over 950 U.S. based SMBs in a limited number of states.
As part of its offering, AppsVillage will also be incorporating credit risk analysis technology, Credit Risk Community, Inc (CRiskCo). This will provide advanced credit risk analysis of its SMB customers, predicting future credit failures and driving a higher rate of success to ensure AppsVillage maximises its revenue generating potential.
Mr Bluvand said with the successful US launch behind it AppsVillage has commenced the pilot phase of its microfinance offering in Australia.
He said the company will offer white-labelled microfinance products valued between $5,000 and $50,000 backed by Lumi Financial Management Pty Ltd to a limited number of existing Australian SMB customers.
The pilot is expected to last eight weeks and the company will also be finalising its marketing and customers acquisition strategy to generate strong traction in the Australian market upon full launch of its microfinance offering.
“The official launch of our microfinance offering is a great milestone and we are delighted with the results of the US pilot,” Mr Bluvand said.
“The global SMB loans market has grown exponentially over recent years and we were overwhelmed with the response we received, even from such a small target group. We are now rolling out this service to all new and existing AppsVillage customers and will be employing a strong marketing strategy to ensure we hit the ground running in the US.
“Further to this, we can leverage our findings and learnings from the US pilot phase to ensure the impending launch of our Australian offering is equally as successful.
“We are working tirelessly to deliver product growth, sales growth and revenue growth to become the leading SMB growth solutions company.”