In South Korea, there are about 7.3 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — outlined as corporations with lower than 250 staff. Their workforces mixed make up 83.1% of all company staff within the nation, totaling about 17.1 million individuals, based on OECD data.
To assist meet SMEs’ monetary wants within the nation, Seoul-based fintech startup Korea Credit Data (KCD) stated Thursday that it has raised $24.7 million in Sequence D extension financing.
Strategic traders — Fiserv, a Nasdaq-listed fintech firm, and LG Uplus, a telco unit of LG Company — participated within the extension spherical. In complete, KCD has raised about $70 million in its Sequence D spherical and about $112 million since its 2016 inception, stated CEO of KCD Kelvin Dongho Kim.
The most recent financing values the corporate at roughly $776 million (1.1 trillion KRW). KCD was valued at about $563 million in November final 12 months when it raised $28.1 million in its Sequence D1.
The startup needs to handle small retailers’ ache factors by offering digital monetary companies, Kim instructed TechCrunch. In 2017, KCD launched its bookkeeping app for SMEs, referred to as Money Be aware, which helps small and mid-sized enterprise homeowners monitor a complete overview of money circulation, together with revenues, bank card gross sales and expenditure. The app additionally supplies companies like SMEs’ gross sales ledgers and coverage data. It allows small enterprise homeowners to attach with different entrepreneurs of their communities trying to scale their companies.
Most small and mid-sized enterprise homeowners with low credit score information usually battle to safe working capital loans and survive tight money circulation, based on Kim. So the startup added SME-focused lending companies to its platform, connecting MSMEs entrepreneurs to entry capital mortgage packages, Kim stated.
KCD claims that it has greater than 1.7 million registered retailers in South Korea and its app has grown into a brilliant app amongst small and mid-sized enterprise homeowners.
KCD has acquired South Korean startups, together with ImU, a POS (level of sale) service supplier, and Persona, a authorities subsidiary alert service for SMEs. The corporate plans to make use of its contemporary capital to broaden its workforce of 230 and make further acquisitions.
Its earlier backers embody KB Kookmin Financial institution, KB Securities, GS Holdings, KT Funding, Pavilion Capital, Shinhan Card, Samsung Hearth & Marine Insurance coverage, Kakao and Kclavis.
